The Devil's Flower
by Wannaseemygargoyle
Summary: Something dark lies dormant in the blood of Hibiscus Potter. Maybe it came from her vanished mother, or perhaps there is something evil in the depths of her soul. The only thing to be certain of however is that she is a force to be reckoned with. Major OOC. Eventual HP/CD/TMR. Warning: Contains child cruelty and neglect, and slightly morbid imagery. Harry!Female.
1. Chapter 1

Hibiscus Potter and the Nundu

Ten years ago, on a cold hallows eve, Lily Potter barricaded a door to a cozy little nursery. The evening had gone well enough, it was their first Halloween with little Hibiscus after all. The fidelius charm and multitude of other enchantments that protected the little cottage must have malfunctioned, but how? All Lilly knew was that she did not have time to focus on this. But despite her desire to stay focused she could not stop thinking of how well the evening had gone.

While Lily sat with Hibiscus at the window watching the different costumes amble by, James stood in the kitchen, cooking for the families Samhain dinner. Dumbledore had called Sirius and Remus and the rest of the order on a mission that very evening, meaning that it would just be the Potters that night. A half- hour later the Samhain feast was finally finished. The apples diced, the nuts roasted, the breads and greens placed on the table around the roast and potatoes, surrounded by different colored candles.

Green, red and a combination of gold and silver were the colors of their magical cores. They had had Hibiscus's core tested at St. Mungo's the weekend prior. Lily pulled out her wand and flicked it, the lights turning off in the whole house. The inky black was engulfing, heavy and endless. Lily lit her wand following James, the two young parents went to light their candles. Lily lit the green colored ones. James lit his red ones with a fire lit wand tip.

Eventually, they turned to the gold and silver candles and lit them while Hibiscus clapped giddily. They then proceeded to go through the rest of the dinner and traditions. After they finished with the roast and potatoes, James pulled out Hibiscus's little toy broom which she whizzed around on. The family blissfully laughed; joyfully unaware that darkness would soon engulf the family. In fact, they remained happy until the wards Lilly had set up around the property and covered with _Subtlety Charms_ went off.

Voldemort sniffed the air of the Samhain evening and released an inhuman sigh of contentment. Well, if that's what it could be called really. He was relaxing in the humble abode of a muggle family he had slaughtered the evening before. It was quite 'coincidentally' situated next to a church located near the Potter's cottage.

The cold snakelike man looked down upon the dead muggle family on the floor. He had assigned Nagini the arduous task of disposing of the corpses. Nagini preferred young flesh to old and was now gleefully consuming the little muggle girl's body without a thought in the world.

He sunk deep into his thoughts, absentmindedly twirling his wand between his fingers. He doubted there would be any surprises that evening. The blood traitorous Potter boy would most likely be the first to go. Then he would move on to the dirty mudblood. Though his reports defined her to be a skilled young woman with an aptitude for magic, a single dirty mudblood stood not a chance against the Lord Voldemort.

Voldemort had made sure that the rest of the order affiliates including that bumbling fool Dumbledore were preoccupied. His death eaters were launching an attack on muggle London. This ensured nothing would stand in his way when he made the move to dispose of this pathetic little girl who possessed no worthy background, whose mere existence dare threaten his indomitable reign.

He reminisced over how he determined it to be her that the prophecy bespoke of. After all the choices had been her or the Longbottom boy who were the only two children born in July to order members who had thrice defied him. But it only solidified that she was the one when his spies in the ministry said her scum parents had her tested for magical core and she had a gold and silver aura. After this evening ended he decided he would take out the other child just to be certain.

Either way he knew one of the two children was the prophetic one and was determined to stop their rise to power. Lord Voldemort pulled up his sleeve and pressed his wand against his forearm. Peter Pettigrew popped into existence and tripped on the carpet when he apparated into the room. He hurriedly spread into a bow to Voldemort. "My lord," he said with his head still on the carpet, "how may I serve you?" Voldemort looked down upon him coldly. "I assume you are prepared for me to enter the fidelius Pettigrew? For if you are not, there are other things I could be spending my precious Samhain doing." Mercilessly he shot a powerful cruciatus curse at the pathetic little man, causing him to shriek in agony.

"I swear to you, my dark lord, all will go as planned, the potter's are alone, and the fidelius will allow you through because I am truly the secret keeper." Peter informed breathlessly. The dark lord did not waste his breath to respond. He simply waved his wand causing the door to open with a bang, startling Peter so badly he jumped. Voldemort stood, before he left he hissed in parseltongue at Nagini, "Keep our guest company." The snake acquiesced, slithering lithely over to Pettigrew who whimpered pathetically just before it curled around him and squeezed.

The leaves slithered around Voldemort's feet as he approached the location. It had taken him an hour to break Dumbledore's un-trackable charms. He stopped right at the shield and passed through easily. Voldemort observed the cottage once he had made it through the fidelius. Candles were burning all over inside the home meaning that Potter still abided to ancient wizarding culture and celebrated Samhain.

As surprising as it was, the Dark Lord did not ponder it as he pushed through the rest of the enchantments, traps and wards. He was disappointed in himself that he missed it; the mudblood must have set up a subtle motion detecting charm that he had slithered through. He instantly heard movement in the house and flicked his wand causing the door to the back of the house to crumble to dust. Voldemort slithered in and saw them at the stairwell which was directly across from the door frame he now stood in. "Go, and take Hibiscus with you," the blood traitor shouted, instantly causing the mudblood to run up the stairwell.

Potter lifted his wand and bellowed, "Stupefy," rotating his wand at Voldemort, all while trying not to show his immense fear. Voldemort was not surprised at how this was playing out; Potter was fighting for the lives of his daughter and wife like a foolish Gryffindor. But to no avail, Voldemort flicked his wand and his _Killing Curse_ shattered the incoming stunner making sparks. The green spell glittered prettily and crashed into James Potter blowing him back onto the stairs.

He slid up and walked over the dead body and saw the mudblood, staring down at him, suddenly she shrieked in rage and ducked his incoming _Killing Curse_, and then the girl whipped her wand around her head violently as wide as though it were a lasso and shrieked the incantation to a powerful _Blasting Curse_. The entire stairwell blew to pieces throwing him back into the living room.

He stood, shifting wood, plaster and James Potter's body, that mudblood would die tonight, just like her husband.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Until the Letter Came.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus Potter and the Nundu

Ten Years Later

Hibiscus Potter was a pretty girl with long gold and red hair and a pale complexion. Her intelligence however, was her most dominating feature. It was sharp as a knife. All the other children at her primary school and even a few teachers found her to be strange and disquieting. This was mostly due to the strange things that happened around her.

When she first started school, Nancy Bakkbin pushed her off the swings. It took the janitor a strong set of pliers to untangle Nancy from that swing set. When she was eight, her teacher, Mrs. Christiansen lost the ability to speak for the rest of the day after she reprimanded her for going ahead of the class. Last year when Jane Goodman had dumped her lunch on Hibiscus's hand me down clothes, her and her friends were simultaneously depansed by the seemingly thin air.

These strange occurrences were a few of many. But even these odd happenings were not the biggest part of the problem. It was her cousin, Dudley Dursley. Dudley Dursley was the size of a rhinoceros which may have sounded rude, though it was benevolent since he probably weighed more than that. As if that was not the worst of his problems he was as thick headed as a Christmas pig with an apple stuffed in its mouth.

Dudley's favorite pastime was a game he invented with his friends called Potter Hunting. Hibiscus had to admit that even though it wasn't positive with regards to her existence, she was proud that Dudley was actually capable of thinking of something. Alas, when he was not able to find any defenseless first graders to beat up and mentally scar, he went for Hibiscus.

Currently, Hibiscus was sitting in her math class, glossing over her life. There was one final mortal struggle she battled through in her sad life. Dudley's parents, her aunt Petunia and her Uncle Vernon, the most dreadful creatures in existence. Vernon was a beefy pig that could not see past his chin, while Petunia was a horsey monster, with an unnaturally long neck that belonged in a horror program on the telly. It was only fair, Hibiscus thought to herself, since Dudley originated from their fatal loins. Shuddering, she tried to think of anything but the Dursley's loins.

When Hibiscus was a year old, her parents passed away and she was left on the Dursley's doorstep. Though she had never seen a picture of her mother and father, she wondered how her mother could possibly have been Petunia Dursley's sister. Hibiscus was only ever told that they were good for nothings who died in a car crash. The Dursleys seemed to have been pulled into the world just to give Hibiscus the most unhappy childhood possible. Hibiscus began to reminisce the two nights prior when Dudley had kicked her down the stairs.

She had never seen it coming; he came up and kicked her in the back of her left knee when she was at the top of the stairs. The laundry basket she was holding went in the air as she rolled down the stairs and stopped at the bottom. The gash which had appeared on her forehead as she fell stained the carpet with her blood. When her uncle came out from the telly, he beat her black and blue for staining his carpet and ruining the laundry. Then he promptly shoved her in the cupboard. In the morning when he opened up the cupboard and saw that the gash seemed to be gone like magic, he refused to let her out until this very morning.

Hibiscus was snapped out of her reverie by Mr. Martin, the math teacher, who was asking for her to simplify the fractions on the board. She did so successfully, much to the chagrin of Dudley's friend's, and the primary school bell rang not much sooner. Hastily, she retrieved her bag and scurried out of the class before the congregation of Dudley Dursley caught her.

When she made it into the main hall, the crowd was impossible to get through. She looked up to the stairs and saw Dudley's cronies. Dudley himself was absent that day due to a chronic temper tantrum. Realizing she didn't have time to wait, Hibiscus instead ran to the gymnasium. When she made it in she to the back exit which was right across the other side of the gym.

As soon as she grabbed the handle and pulled, and realized the door was locked, the gang of bullies entered the gym. They laughed as they approached her. Piers, one of Dudley's friends, cracked his knuckles and laughed. "Alright, let's make Potter wish she had never run from us." They ambled towards her carelessly, and she knew they were not joking. They had beaten her up before.

Just as Piers pulled back his fist to hit her, something strange occurred. Hibiscus shoved her hand out in an arc and all the balls in the gym rocketed from their places on the metal racks and collided with Piers along with the rest of his friends relentlessly. She ran around the group as they screamed in desperation. When she reached the unlocked door to the gym, she fled.

As she ambled along the road, Hibiscus thought over the oddity of what had just occurred. This was not the first time something like this had happened in such an un-subtle manner. When she was a child, Petunia had beaten her bloody when she found Hibiscus talking to the garden snakes. But just like speaking with snakes, the telekinesis seemed to be the only peculiar occurrence she was able to control.

Absentmindedly she flicked things around with a swish of her finger. The odd twig here, the small pebble there. At least she did, until she arrived at Privet Drive. Slowly, knowing what was to come, she entered the door and looked into the living room. Dudley was presumably upstairs while his horse faced mother sat on the couch, and Vernon Dursley snapped around to assault her. Apparently the school had called and Dudley's friends made her to sound like the bully.

Before her brain could process that she was ducking a nearby vase was shards on the wall behind her in an instant, glass trinkets lost their form as they whizzed through the air at her head and crashed on the wall behind her. She fled to the kitchen, Vernon hot on her heels. When she arrived in the kitchen, she flung pots and dishes at him to no avail. He eventually grabbed her and banged her against the counter.

Hibiscus did not even bother trying to use her newfound telekinesis against him. He was far too heavy and the incident in the gym had taken lots of energy from her. Instead she watched with dread as he whipped off his belt and fashioned it into a loop. Then, she waited for the first blow. She looked up at Petunia who was standing in the doorframe with pleading eyes. To no avail however as the woman merely avoided eye contact.

Then, he began to beat her. The face, limbs, torso, he did not leave a single patch of skin unturned. Rapidly she became a bloody mess as the belt hit new places. Petunia finally took mercy, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Hibiscus did not notice, her world was about to leave her.

Instead of leaving her there to bleed, Vernon dragged her to the cupboard by her hair and roughly shoved her in, pulling the locks on the outside closed with clicks and sounds of metal sliding into metal. Hibiscus soon passed out, half of her petite body on her small bed, half of the rest of her body crammed into the door.

She awoke two days later still in the cupboard. Not that she was aware of how long it had been. As always, whenever the Dursleys beat her she mysteriously healed quickly, sooner than she should have. In addition to that the Dursleys kept her in there for an additional two weeks. One more mystery that confounded her was how she survived the boredom and pain. It probably had to do with the meager meals she was given and the time she had to practice her levitation of objects.

After Vernon released her and drilled what was wrong with her into her head for half an hour, she discovered how long she had been in the cupboard and realized that Dudley's birthday had passed. Afterwards she was given lists of chores to complete, including gardening.

In the garden, Hibiscus decided she did not give a flying piss for what the Dursley's had decreed. In other words, she began to communicate with the garden snakes once again. It was to them that she relayed the horrific experiences she had survived.

"Little one, you mussst tell ssomeone before they render you irreparable," Farbior, one of the snakes hissed. The other snakes hissed in agreement. Hibiscus hissed back emotionlessly, "What isss the point, if I do that I will just be thrown in a home that isss probably worssse than thisss?" She could see the snake was going to insist again and changed the subject. "Tell me all about your new nessst'sss and hatchling'sss." The topic was lost amidst bragging between the different snake couples.

The rest of the month passed uneventfully which was surprising for the household. That is to say however, at least life was uneventful until the letter came.

She had just set the breakfast she had prepared, and spit in, on the table in front of the Dursleys. Just then the mail man dropped the post in the mail slot. Vernon looked up and said to the girl, "Get the post you blasted menace." All too willingly she went into the main room and retrieved the mail. Before she went in the kitchen she looked through it all. That was when she saw it, the letter. It was addressed to one H. V. POTTER.

When Vernon bellowed, "We don't have all bloody day you indolent splotch," she acted quickly and slid it under the door to her cupboard. She knew if Vernon saw it he would apprehend it immediately.

Breakfast went dreadfully; As usual she was forced to watch and wait for them to finish their first servings. Besides that, Dudley was going to Smelting boy's academy and had received his uniform. Hibiscus just gaped at the amount of fabric that now adorned Dudley; she had suspicions that it was such a large quantity it could clothe an impoverished village for decades. However, that was not even the worst part; the boys at Smelting school were provided sticks to smack at one another with.

When she finally left with a few new bruises from the whacking stick, she went straight to her cupboard, retrieved her letter and went outside to commence her chores and read it with the snake community. She sat there and peeled open the flap at the urge of the snakes. She read it aloud in their language, "Hogwarts School  
of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.  
A representative of the school will arrive two days within the opening of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall  
Deputy Headmistress

Hogwarts School  
of Witchcraft and Wizardry

UNIFORM  
First-year students will require:  
sets of plain work robes (black)  
plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)  
Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags.

COURSE BOOKS  
All students should have a copy of each of the following:

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)  
by Miranda Goshawk

A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot

Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling

A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch

One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi  
by Phyllida Spore

Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them  
by Newt Scamander

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection  
by Quentin Trimble

OTHER EQUIPMENT

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)  
1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Hibiscus just sat there in shock, the snakes continually hissed, "Misssusss, Misssusss." She just simply let the letter fall to the grass. "Why I am able to talk to snakes, why I can move things without touching them, why strange things happen around me." The snakes listened intently to the befuddled young girl. "I am a witch."

Ooh, Hibiscus is a witch, who saw that coming? Please review. This is my first fanfic and I need all the feedback, positive and negative, that I can get.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: The Dursleys and the Jolly Disposition.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The next day, Hibiscus was ruminating in deep thought. So much so that she was constantly absent minded and botching up her duties. When she accidentally dropped a dish, Petunia just had to put in her two sense. "Girl, you better begin to shape up or you will find yourself living on the streets and dead, just like your parents."

Hibiscus looked up with her deep green eyes, usually when she looked at her aunt the orbs were filled with distaste. However, in that moment the hatred shown could have been enough to incinerate the woman. The reasoning behind this was of course the letter. She knew that the elder Dursleys had been aware of this tid bit of information all along; after all of the reactions they had to her random bouts of magic. Meaning that they had lied all along about her parents being good for nothing's who had left her on the Dursley's porch.

Petunia backed away and bumped into the counter, startling herself. "Make sure to pick up the mess you obnoxiously made, insolent brat." Petunia graveled out, immediately afterwards she scurried from the kitchen. Hibiscus kneeled down on the floor, in front of the broken shards. All of the lies they had told her, every falsehood.

She wanted them to feel pain, pain like what they had inflicted on her. Brushing off the anger she felt, Hibiscus stood and lifted her hands, willing for the shards to float into the garbage bin, which they did. Then, she resumed her duties in the kitchen.

Several hours later when the Dursley's were eating their first serving's of dinner, Hibiscus made a sudden decision. She was sick and tired of all of the foolish rules, made to belittle and break her till she was normal enough to these liars' standards. She reached out and took a roll, much to the shock of everyone at the table.

"Menace, you better put that roll down," Vernon bellowed warningly, "Or you can count on not having supper for the next week." Hibiscus looked at him from across the table, and slowly took a bite out of the roll. "You and what army, Dursley?" She demanded with a full mouth.

"I have had it with this freak, we allow her in our home and set simple guide lines a chimpanzee could follow, but she can somehow not." He shouted at no one in particular, standing and almost knocking over the table in the process. When she saw him reach for his belt, Hibiscus Potter had decided she had persevered through quite enough. She whipped her hands and his hands were slapped away from the silver buckle.

The Dursley's blinked as though they had not seen correctly, then Vernon began to morph a violent shade of red and purple, then, he exploded like a volcano. "How dare you bring that hocus-pocus… NONSENSE… into our home you dirty little-." She slapped through the air and Vernon was slapped with so much force that he lost balance and fell to the floor like a hurricane striking New Orleans. "Freak, nuisance, mistake, girl or brat? Maybe all of the above, but what I am certain of is that no Dursley will EVER hit me again, you worthless wretches." Then, to make her point proven, she jumped onto the table and began to knock the things into the walls, all while hissing in the language of snake's. She spun Dudley's chair so that he collapsed on top of his father. Then she slowly turned, she had saved the very best for last.

"Petunia Dursley," the woman mentioned began to squirm in her chair. "My supposed aunt, my mother's sister, a true terror of terrors." Hibiscus smirked and said in snake language, "It is impossible for you to feel all of the pain you have inflicted on me, but you will feel a portion of the pain, longing, sorrow and loss that you have inflicted on me for the past eleven years tonight."

As she did with the others, she slapped her aunt telepathically. However, this one was different. All of her pent up emotions, long buried, were dug up, dusted off and promptly thrown at Petunia Dursley with so much force her chair legs snapped and she hit her head on the floor. Petunia instantly blacked out, the last thing she saw was her niece, looking down on her.

Hibiscus looked over at her frightened cousin and uncle with a look of superiority. "Leave." Vernon helped Dudley the mountain up and rushed over to his wife and carried her out of the kitchen. Dudley tottered as quickly as he could to the door. When he finally reached the door she pushed him forward with the last of her telepathic strength. The door was finally shut, and she was alone.

Carefully, she pulled herself from the table and promptly collapsed into a nearby chair from exhaustion. She did not feel comfortable sleeping in this house after what she had done to the Dursleys. Then it dawned on her where she would be safe.

Holding onto the walls for support, Hibiscus ambled out to the garden and into the bushes. She then promptly fell asleep with the garden snakes, underneath the brilliantly shining stars.

Hibiscus awoke to the sun shining through the bushes. She crawled out and looked up at the house. It was intimidating, she did not know what to expect behind the back doors. Pushing trepidation aside she approached the door and looked inside.

None of the Dursley's were in the bottom floor of the house. Then she heard it, a loud and brisk knock on the door. Then, realization struck her; the representative would be here today.

All sorts of nasty thoughts began to fly through her mind. What if they didn't allow her entry because of the mess? Or if they met the Dursleys and saw how dreadful they were?

However, when the rapping became more insistent, Hibiscus made up her mind and opened the door. On the porch stood a tiny little old balding man. Hibiscus instantly took a liking to him and his cheery little disposition.

"Hello, my name is Filius Flitwick, charms professor of HogwartsSchool of witchcraft and wizardry." The tiny man smiled benevolently at her. "Does a Ms. Potter live here?" Hibiscus smiled, "I'm Hibiscus Potter." The little man almost fell over in excitement, "The savior of the wizarding world! May I please come in so we can discuss certain matters?" He queried. Interesting, Hibiscus would file away the question that just popped in her head for later, if there actually was a later.

Hibiscus sighed, now was the moment of reckoning, she widened the door so the small man could come through. As he walked around the corner into the living room, she trailed after him apprehensively. He pulled himself up on the sofa and looked around, then paused. "What happened in the kitchen?" He asked, looking at the kitchen through the living room.

She started to think, mind whirling with a vicious speed. Then she frowned fearfully, play the victim, it was what Dudley always did at school to get out of trouble. "The Dursleys did it, they threw the dinner I made everywhere and hit me." She started crying and pulled up the sleeves of her dirty, torn shirt. Flitwick gasped at the cuts and bruises there.

"My dear girl." He gasped quietly, "How long has this been going on?" Hibiscus could have smiled, if wizards took abuse seriously, she would probably be able to weasel away from the bastards. "Since I can remember, they make me sleep in that cupboard under the stairs." Dramatically, she pointed slowly at the said cupboard.

"We should leave immediately," Flitwick advised, "I hope to avoid any conflict with these…Monsters." Hibiscus nodded solemnly in agreement, "I think that would be for the best too." Strangely, the man did not get off the couch, but instead stood on it.

Hibiscus looked at the stick he pulled from his blue and purple robes with curiosity. Flitwick looked from her expression to his stick, "Oh, this is a wand, Ms Potter, now grab my arm, we are going to use a method of magical transportation to travel to London called aparating. I must warn you, the first time is always highly unpleasant."

Suspicious of the word, 'unpleasant', she reluctantly grabbed his proffered arm as Vernon Dursley came thundering down the steps. They began to spin, Hibiscus felt like she was split in half and put back together in a high speed washing machine. Then with a pop, she was standing with Flitwick in a London alley.

She stood on the brick wall while Flitwick told her to take deep breaths. The transportation had made her feel ill. When she finally recovered, she looked around and saw a sign that said the leaky cauldron. "Are we going in there?" she asked.

"Why, yes we are, my dear," he said with a jolly smile.

They walked to the entrance of the pub and walked inside. The interior was cozy and quite crowded. The pair was walking through when Flitwick was stopped by someone named Professor Quirrell. It was a very awkward introduction, especially when he refused to shake hands with her. Then he said her name aloud and a crowd of people mobbed her.

Hibiscus did not understand it; Flitwick had called her the savior and all of these people acted like she was a celebrity. The most disturbing moment was when someone reached to her neck and stroked her scar.

When they finally escaped they went into a back room of the pub. "What was that about," Hibiscus demanded of the tiny professor. He sighed and said, "It is a complicated story that would be better discussed over lunch." She took his word for it. Then he used his wand to tap the stones of the wall in a certain pattern. They immediately spun crazily shifting until there was an archway leading to the most, well, magical place she had ever seen. People in cloaks ambled in front of astronomical, potions, charms stores. She stopped to ogle a store that held a FLYING broomstick. The label said it was the fastest broom in the present time.

"Do you have your list," Flitwick asked and she realized she did not, shaking her head no in response. Flitwick merely produced his wand and flicked it. A school list appeared out of thin air. "Conjuration is an advanced subject in charms you will not learn until further in your charms education." He explained at her puzzled glance. As she looked through it all she realized one problem. "Sir, how am I going to pay for this? I have no money." Flitwick merely pointed at the destination in front of them, Gringott's bank, and said, "You will be quite surprised to learn that your parents left you quite a considerable fortune." T o say surprised was a severe understatement. Hibiscus's mouth dropped open.

After passing the morbid rhyme on the entrance, they entered the room with all of the tiny goblins. Flitwick merely ignored them, while she followed his stead. They reached the front desk and Flitwick handed the frightening goblin a letter, "You-know-what in vault you-know-which." He whispered. "Ahh," the goblin said, "and what is your business?" He asked of her. Flitwick coughed and held a key, "Ms. Potter would like to withdraw from her vaults."

"Very well, GRIPHOOK." He bellowed, causing me to jump. A smaller and younger goblin came forth and led us to a cart. When we got on the cart it immediately began going as fast as the speed of light. Flitwick and I both enjoyed it and held gleeful faces the entire time. When it stopped we got off and stood in front of a door. "Key please," it asked me. I handed over my key watched stunned, coins of gold, silver and bronze filled the room, along the edges were bookshelves and chests among other things.

Turning to the goblin I asked, "Do you have a bag which I could put my money in?" He reached into his robes and pulled one out. Flitwick was kind enough to put an extension charm on it for me. I collected a portion of the coins and found a trunk, with my mother's name on it.

I asked Flitwick to make it smaller and put in my bag, and then we moved on to the vault 713 where he withdrew a strange, small package. When we made it back to the surface, I was relieved to see the sun again. "Where do you want to go next?" He asked me. I thought and then smiled, "The wand store, definitely."

Thanks for reading, please review.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: A Dark Story at Lunch Time.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The alley bustled with life as Flitwick and Hibiscus walked to the wand store. Many people stopped to look at her, as the news of her appearance had disseminated from the Leaky Cauldron. Then finally, they stopped in front of an ancient store, Ollivanders, Fine Makers of Wands since 382 b.c. The entire building seemed older than the cobblestones on the roads. She opened the door for Flitwick and watched as he waddled through the store.

As the door shut with a clang, she observed the store. The walls were covered with boxes of wands. Hibiscus approached the counter and waited, and waited, until she heard someone approach behind her. She looked at him as he circled around behind the counter.

"Hello, Ms. Potter, I have been expecting you." The man had pale eyes and white wizened hair. "I remember when your parents came to my store to purchase their wands." Then his eyes flicked to Flitwick, "Ah, Filius, four and twelve inches yew, with a core of… Dragon Heart String." "Hello Mr. Ollivander," Flitwick answered.

Then, Ollivander looked to her and said, "Please stand tall." She barely had time to comply before the tape measure descended upon her out of thin air and measured her height. Then he pulled out a list and crossed something out. He looked up and spun around, looking at some of the boxes, extracting a pile of them and placing them on the counter.

He then pulled one out and handed it to her. "Give it a flick," he prodded. Hibiscus flicked her wrist and the wand caught flame. Squealing in fright, she dropped it. Ollivander looked very interestedly at her, "Maybe something of a darker potency than holly." It went like this for the next hour. He would hand her a wand and counter whatever happened. Rainstorms, rumbles, windstorms, all in the store, until he looked at her with excitement, rubbing his chin

"There is only one wand left," he said a glimmer in his eye, "Eleven inches Holly and Phoenix feather." Nervously, she gripped the wand handle, and nothing happened, whatsoever. Hibiscus just looked at the floor with disappointment. Flitwick approached her and rubbed her elbow consolingly. Then Ollivander began to chuckle. Flitwick's head snapped up viciously. "How can you laugh at the poor girl?" He demanded. Ollivander, simply said, "I may have a solution."

Hibiscus's head snapped up in shock, and hope. She watched as the old man walked to the back of his store. Flitwick spoke up, "Now Hibiscus, I do not want you to get your hopes up." She simply nodded and waited for Ollivander to return. It seemed as though as soon as her mind wandered back to him, he appeared.

The man blew on the box he held, causing dust to fill the air. He set the box on the counter and opened the lid; he then extricated a wand from it. Not just any wand however, it seemed to sparkle and gleam two colors, a deep black and a shining mahogany. He slowly extended it to her; hesitantly she wrapped her finger's around the ornate hilt and took it from his grasp. This time, her magic did not affect the store. It affected all of Diagon alley. The sun burst brilliantly, illuminating the entire street, probably even further into the rest of the surrounding area, then the shadows strengthened and began lengthen in an unnatural way, moving and dancing, until the magic stopped.

Ollivander began to clap, while Flitwick looked awestruck. "My great-grandfather gave that wand to my father, and my father to me." Hibiscus listened intently. "You see, my great-grandfather enjoyed testing different types of wands. He was interested in increasing power by combing wand woods and different cores into one wand." Flitwick seemed very surprised, Hibiscus did not know enough about wand lore to be as shocked. "That wand has the wood of a Blackthorn Bush, which are known for their ease with the dark arts, and Cherry wood. A wood of extreme power that gives other woods a run for their galleons." She then asked, "What is the core." He extended his hand and flicked it, bending and listening to the wand. "Surprising, my grandfather utilized very powerful ingredients for this wand. The essence of a legifold, tail feather of a thestral, and surprisingly the venom of a basilisk."

"Take care to use that wand properly," he cautioned, "It can do terrible things in the hands of evil." They left the wand store and gathered the rest of her school supplies, except the books and uniform, then went to lunch at the leaky cauldron.

As they sat, eating, Flitwick sighed, "I suppose we have a lot to discuss." She simply nodded in assent. He then began his tale. "There was a Dark Wizard a few decades back named … Lord Voldemort. He supported anti muggle, non-magical, views and was pro dark magic." She listened with rapt attention. "He soon began to recruit an army to cause mutiny against the Wizarding World. There was no hope, until Albus Dumbledore formed a group to battle him." Hibiscus was fully enraptured by now, encouraging the small man to continue. "Your parents were a part of this organization, a pair of fine wizards, especially your mother. But a threat soon became very real to them and they had to go into hiding with you."

Already, Hibiscus knew she would not enjoy the outcome of this tale. "Eleven years ago, on Samhain eve, Lord Voldemort penetrated the wards of your parent's home; your father sacrificed himself, to buy time for you and your mother. He was murdered first, and then your mother gave Voldemort a run for his money." He paused again to take a breath.

"The entire house was destroyed in the midst of their battle. It is theorized that Voldemort subdued your mother and moved on to you. But, the moment he tried to kill you with his Dark Magic, it rebounded and destroyed him." The silence was unbearable. "No one knows for certain if he was truly destroyed that evening, I personally believe that he lost his power and fled." Flitwick concluded.

Hibiscus was horrified to say the least. "What about my mother, sir?" She asked the professor. He took a deep sigh before responding, "All they found was her blood in your nursery room, all traces of her vanished that night." "So there is a chance that she is still alive out there?" She asked excitedly.

Flitwick looked at her carefully, "The strongest tracking magic possible was used to find your mother, and she would have to be living on Antarctica to still be hidden." At her disappointed expression he said, "You should be proud of both of your parents, they gave the ultimate sacrifice so you could continue to live," The nod of assent she gave him was enough to convince him.

"Now, I will help you get a room, and I am sure you will be able to get the rest of your supplies tomorrow?" He said, standing. "Of course, sir." She said, providing a weak smile. "Now, where is Tom" The tiny professor said as he wandered off for the owner and barman.

That very night, Hibiscus Potter sat on her bed, twirling her wand around her hand like a baton. On the floor in front of her bed was her mother's school trunk. Flitwick had taught her the size altering charm, and said she had quite a knack for charms.

However, even he had been unable to unlock the trunk. Instead of trying to unlock it, she spent the evening thinking of her parent's. How she would give up everything if it meant she could have them back.

Unaware of the flash of red across the street that had just been watching her window, escaping into the hot night.

Thanks for reading, please review and make this story better.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: Which Alley is the Right Alley?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus woke up early in the morning. The sun was beginning to rise, and the bustle of the alley was stirring. Slowly she slinked out of bed and walked over to her clothes from the day before. Dressing quickly, and grimacing at the filth of the hand me down clothes, Hibiscus snatched her wand from the bedside table and was out of her room rather quickly.

Walking down the stairs she decided a stop at the clothing store would be quite necessary. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she nodded at Tom from the bar and hurried from the barroom and towards the entrance to Diagon Alley. Tapping the bricks with her wand, she hoped she got the pattern right, which she did.

Walking quickly through the archway into Diagon Alley, she walked towards the middle of the alley, stopping when she reached her destination, thankfully, it was open. The choice was either Twilfits Robes, and Madame Malkin's all occasion robes. Twilfits looked to be sellers of second hand robes, so Malkin's was her choice.

Once inside, a woman with dark hair in her early forties came up with a wand and floating tape measurer. "How may I be of service to you today dearie?" She questioned wrinkling her nose at Petunia's hand me downs. "I need an entirely new wardrobe and my Hogwart's uniform," Hibiscus stated with a smile, "Muggle and Wizarding clothes both." Sniffing disdainfully at the girl's clothes the woman said confidently, "I am quite certain that can be done."

Immediately, the tape measured her size and a magic pen wrote down all of the measurements. Afterwards the woman seized the poor girl's arm and dragged her to a stool, which she was told to stand on. Fabric, gold, silver, purple, red, green and black flew through the store, scissors dancing and slicing. While the fabric danced and formed robes, the muggle clothing levitated to the dressing rooms, where Hibiscus tried it all on.

When all the muggle jeans, shirts, coats, socks and shoes had been tried on, the robes had their turn. Thankfully, all of them fit perfectly like a hand in a glove. Before Hibiscus could step out, the witch pushed… Bras at her. Blushing furiously, Hibiscus tried to hand them back. "No, you are a blossoming young witch. You need to have undergarments." The middle aged witch insisted chastising, shoving them back and closing the door. As quickly as though she had been given Godspeed, Hibiscus struggled into one and then fled the changing room to the counter where all of her clothing was bagged. "That will be 25 galleons and 5 sickles." The witch said, holding out her gloved hand.

Pulling open her pouch from Gringrotts open, Hibiscus counted out the money and left it on the counter. Picking up her bag's, she walked out of the door and into the alley. The morning sunlight glanced upon her gold-silver robe's, sending light arcing out across the alley, and causing her eye's and hair to look as though they were of fire.

Her new silver robe billowed behind her as she walked down towards the bookstore. An excited bounce to her step as she approached the establishment.

Flourish and Blotts was a three story bookstore near the end of Diagon Alley. It was perfect, three stories of books which Hibiscus could utilize. Smiling, she walked up the steps and walked inside of the store. The bottom level was very spacious and open; at least it would've been, had the books not been there. Books were on the floor, walls, even floating in the air.

Looking around, she saw the counter and walked over to the clerk. "Hello missus, how can I be of service to you today?" The man asked kindly, looking down at her. "Hi, I have my list for Hogwarts, could you please find my books?" The man took the list and left for the books.

She leaned on the counter and looked at the other customers. There was a bushy haired girl and her parents who were carrying a pile of books. A man in the corner was whispering to himself. Then an elderly couple was standing together looking in a book. After he returned with her books, she decided she would get plenty for personal reading.

The man returned a few minutes later with an armload of books. "These are all of them," he smiled, "Anything else?" He asked. "Now that you mention it, yes, can you hold those while I look around?" The man nodded and moved them to the side of the counter.

Hibiscus looked at the rack that sold the Wizarding World's best sellers. Two books caught her eye, _A Muggle-Born's Guide to the Wizarding World _and _A Bestiary of the World's Magical Beings, A-Z. _Grabbing these two, she moved on. Books filled with jinxes, hexes, useful charms and equally useful curses. Then she saw it, _Animagi: The Steps to the Acheivement of Animagisim._ It was dusty, but it seemed to call out to her.

As she was walking back to the counter, the man who had been whispering to himself walked into her and sent her sprawling. Her robes shifted, and her neck extended, exposing her scar. His eyes zeroed in on it and he began to scream and rant, throwing books in his ballistic rampage. The clerk rushed over to them just as the man pulled out his wand and screamed, "YOU KILLED THE DARK LORD," he moved his arm as though he was going to hex her but was shoved into a bookshelf by the clerk.

The clerk tried to console her as the demented man slinked lithely out the door and ran. "Miss Potter, I am so sorry, everything is free of charge for you today," She heard the clerk saying. "It is fine, I have _more_ than enough money." She responded. The man shook his head and gave her the books, even offering to walk her back to the Leaky Cauldron.

Hibiscus did not give a jumping gargoyle, that man did not scare her. So she gathered her books and left under the gazes of the onlookers. It was a good thing too, since the news that Hibiscus Potter had been attacked had spread like wildfire through Diagon Alley.

Quickly, looking for a place with fewer people, Hibiscus fled into a tunnel made of bricks. On the walls were pictures of the most wanted, they were all moving, like a show on the telly.

The most undesirable was a witch named Lucretia Fleming, who apparently, was a very dangerous werewolf as well. Finally, she arrived in a darker, smaller and more secluded alley. A blood stained sign said it was Knockturn Alley, yet she strangely felt a desire to keep going and browse the stores, which she did.

She went into a store called the coffin house. The man working at the register was repugnant and grimy and ignored her when she walked in. Vases lined the wall, and when she looked at the labels, they stated the embalmed organs inside. Then she looked at the books and saw one labeled _A Beginners Guide to Necromancy _looking at it with interest, she put it with the bags for her books. She also grabbed a dictionary of necromancy and left after paying for them.

It seemed that every store she went to, she found something interesting to buy. In Borgin's and Burke's, she found a dagger which was supposed to be able to break through many common and uncommon protective enchantments. In the Starry Prophesizer she found a calendar which tracked days that dark and light magic was strongest. She even bought a shrunken head, which she thought would be fun to talk to. It was getting dark and she went into the last store, which was called Moribund's.

She soon realized that this was a store that was closely knit with the Black Market of the Wizarding World. Deciding some of the stuff would be fun to look at or buy she got books on the dark arts such as _The Hidden Darkness in Every Witch and Which God A Witch or Wizard Should Follow. _The store even had a pets section.

Looking around, she wandered over to a pet section where all of the pets were chained in pens. Then she saw it, a beautiful, pure and innocent looking creature that looked like a horse, she then realized that it had small, equally golden small wings. Looking over at the clerk she asked, "What is this?" "A winged unicorn, very rare for a unicorn to be born with wings." Hibiscus looked at it wistfully, "How much?" The woman cackled and grinned darkly, "Depends, the person reserving it is paying a lot for it's blood. The purest substance in the world." Hibiscus recoiled from the witch in shock. "Again, how much?" The witch looked at her firmly and said, "A quarter million."

Hibiscus felt shock and anger course through her veins. A creature this innocent harvested merely for it's blood? She knew this creature and she were destined to be together, felt it in her bone's. "Let me guess, pretty, your allowance isn't that high?" The dreadful witch cackled, at least she did. Until a bloody man came in startling everyone. "Moribund," He shouted, "Lucretia Fleming and a pack of werewolves are battling the Aurors."

The effect was instantaneous; people screamed and ran, while Hibiscus stood still near the unicorn. She didn't know what an Auror was, but she did know that Lucretia Fleming was dangerous for a most definitely probable reason. Quickly she turned to the clerk and asked what an Auror was. The awful witch turned red and stated that it was magical law enforcement. Then an explosion was launched into the building, causing books and shelves along with the window glass to fly everywhere. All that Hibiscus knew in that moment was that she had to flee; however, she couldn't leave the animals to just sit and die.

Flashes of all possible colors, and impossible, flashed in the streets. This was mingled with explosions and screams and bursts of fire. Desperately, she whipped out her wand from her robe pocket and slashed it at the chains. Hibiscus didn't know if it was the desperation, fear, or anger that did it, but all of the chains on the animals broke. From the hippo sized creatures, to the unicorn, they were free and immediately loose in the streets causing more destruction. She snatched up the baby unicorn and a three headed snake that was also young and crying for its mother. Then she fled through the rubble and out into the alley.

It was pandemonium on the streets as the battle continued. Hibiscus ducked and ran, all while chastising the snake for biting at the frightened unicorn. That was when she saw _her. _

Lucretia Fleming stood still amongst the battle then slowly looked at the horrified girl. Slowly, she slid towards her and barred fangs at her. A wand was held loosely in her grip.

"Poor little girl," the woman mocked, "so far from the right alley." Then her eyes drifted down to her throat, where the scar was. Instantly, a carnal sort of glee flooded her eyes. "My, my, why if it isn't Hibiscus Potter herself." This was said loudly. Heads turned from the battle, and a crowd began to surround her. What she supposed was an Auror sent red light at the woman, who blocked it with her wand and sent a flashing green light at the man in return. He dropped to the ground, dead as a doornail.

The snake hissed at the woman who eyed it with humor. "A potter and a Runespoor, such an odd coupling." All of the people in the crowd laughed. Hurriedly, Hibiscus hissed at the snake to keep quiet, which it did. All of the people jumped back in surprise, even Lucretia. "She's a parseltongue," one woman shrieked. Then a nearby explosion came close to everyone, causing them all to rush back into the fight. "You are quite the lucky duck," Lucretia Fleming commented, "You may make a fine dark witch yet." Then she rushed off into the newly arisen battle.

Finally able to breathe, Hibiscus choked in deep gasps of air. Her heart beat rapidly; death had almost befallen her in a most unpleasant way.

Having decided to walk along a small alleyway back to the main tunnel, she stumbled upon the very battered, and much bloodied clerk from Moribund's. It had been quite a fright actually. Hibiscus had almost tripped on the cruel witch.

The witch was muttering something, Hibiscus came close and listened. "Miss Potter," when the girl jumped back in surprise that the woman knew her name, the clerk beckoned her forth again, "I have something of great importance, and it is a Nundu egg. If Voldemort's follower's found it, they would raise it to destroy all of London. If the Aurors found it, they would confiscate it and it would be abused as a weapon by the ministry." The woman was beginning to lose her voice, "I can only trust a witch with the blood of a creature in her veins not abuse such a rarity." Hibiscus was confused, creature in her veins? And what in the bloody hell was a Nundu?

However, the woman allowed her no time to think, as she pulled a shoddy looking book out of the confines of her robe, then a large, golden and silver egg. She pushed them into the girl's already full arms and said with great difficulty, "Everything- you-need-is-in-that-book." Then she died on a puddle of deep red blood, on the alley floor.

Another bang scared her out of her shock at the events that had just occurred, causing her to put the egg and book in the bags she had been carrying all day, and run as fast as she could.

As soon as she turned a corner, she saw a sign, pointing to different districts she could go to. Thankfully, one of them was for Diagon Alley, and she ran to the Leaky Cauldron. It was late into the night, and she could smell the smoke from Knockturn Alley all the way in Diagon Alley. The battle was far away now, the bangs and blasts almost non-existent. Coughing blood, and completely exhausted, Hibiscus walked inside. She walked up to Tom and plunked on a seat. Tom looked at her from the glasses he was wiping, "Miss Potter, I was so worried, I even flooed Flitwick when you did not-." Then, "What in the hell happened to you?" The elderly wizard demanded, waiting for an answer expectantly.

"Tom, let us just say, I now know which alley is the right alley," Hibiscus Potter croaked. Blood in her hair, on her hands and cuts all along the fabric of her gold and silver robes.

Please review. I really enjoy this story. But I don't see the point in continuing if no one likes it enough to review. Also, I don't want to be one of those annoying people who have to threaten not to post chapters in exchange for reviews. This is not a hostage situation. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: A Redhead Down and Friends Before Hogwarts.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The two weeks before Hogwarts began were very intellectually stimulating for Hibiscus. She first went over all of the material her books discussed. Theoretical theory, she found to be highly interesting. However, nothing was more interesting to her than practical theory.

First, she decided it was of vital importance to learn how to use her wand in a battle. After the debacle in Knockturn Alley she decided she needed to use all of her assets to defend herself. This also meant she was once more practicing her telekinesis. Day and night, Hibiscus would sit at the window and cause mayhem with her abilities upon Diagon Alley.

Confined to her room, Hibiscus obviously didn't have a lot else to do. She remembered how ferocious Flitwick had been when he stepped out of the flames of the hearth after she returned from the battle. He had dragged her to her room and thrown away the key. He said Dumbledore would speak with her when he found the time.

Apparently, since Dumbledore was on Wizengenmot, he had to help sort out the random chaos that had been released from Knockturn Alley: deaths to report, black market substances to deal with, and a group of anarchists at large.

Ever since the uprising, illegal creatures became frequent in the rest of the districts, Diagon Alley especially. The funniest thing had occurred the other day. An Argurey bird appeared at her window and would not leave. Hibiscus had decided to name him Plumage, because that was all he did all day, groom his green plumage.

She was even trying to study her other pets. The unicorn, she had decided, would be easiest, so she sent Plumage with a note requesting books on unicorn mutations. When the bird returned, she instantly set to work. Apparently, when a unicorn bred with a Pegasus, the trait for wings became a dormant, dominant trait.

The likelihood of this occurring was not even a real number. So, Hibiscus simply named her winged unicorn Gossamer, because her skin was as beautiful as the fabric, perhaps even more beautiful. Then the time came for her three headed snake. Lucretia Fleming had called it a Runespoor, so she sent a note to Flourish and Blotts again, this time asking about Runespoor.

Soon, she realized the three heads had different functions. One was the planner, the other was the dreamer and the final one was anger. The book stated that the other two heads usually became fed up with anger and bit it off. Hibiscus understood that she would have to keep that in check. She decided to name them quite simply, Hiss.

Hibiscus had decided that she would study the Nundu after she had finished learning about her other pet's.

Hibiscus had been sitting on her bed, reading her book_A Beginners Guide to Necromancy_, when someone began to unlock her door. She sat up and looked at the man who had entered. He was wearing robes that were a combination of blue and salmon pink, Hibiscus snatched her wand from the nightstand.

"Hello Hibiscus," the man said. "Who are you," she demanded, wand outstretched in his direction. She had been itching to try a spell from her defense book. He began to laugh, displacing his very long, very white, beard. "I am Albus Dumbledore." He answered. Feeling embarrassed, she quickly dropped her wand. "I am so sorry sir; I didn't know who you were."

Waving his hands dismissively, he approached the bed. "May I sit here?" Hibiscus pulled her legs up to her chest so he could occupy the end of the bed. "You worried professor Flitwick quite terribly the other night when you disappeared. He also speculated that you had gone to Knockturn Alley, of all places." Then his eyes zeroed in on_A Beginners Guide to Necromancy_. "I see his worries were well founded." He snatched up the book and skimmed through it.

"Sir, I-," he cut her off. "I must warn you. Your interest in the dark arts is understandable." Dumbledore looked at her thoroughly, "However, even some of the world's greatest witches and wizards have given into the inhumane temptations posed by dark magic." Hibiscus merely nodded her head; magic was magic in her opinion. It was all just about who and how it was used.

"Now, Hibiscus, I come with news of your life at the Dursley household. Professor Flitwick and I decided that we will find a new place for you to live by next summer. Your parents had many friends and it should be easily accomplished." Hibiscus felt a sudden joy fill her. No more would she have to tolerate the Dursleys or vice-versa.

"Thank you Professor." Hibiscus smiled. "I have also decided that it would be acceptable for you to be able to roam outside once more. You must, however promise me that you will return to Knockturn Alley." He looked down at her expectantly. "I promise sir, I will not go back to Knockturn Alley before Hogwarts begins." Dumbledore smiled at her. "You remind me so much of your parent's, especially Lilly."

Dumbledore looked away from her and around her room. Then he saw all of her pets in the corner. "A winged unicorn, Argurey, and a Runespoor." He turned back to her. "Where did all of these creatures come from?" He asked. "I rescued them sir, from Knockturn Alley, that night." Hibiscus replied. The older man looked down at her with a glimmer in his bright blue eyes. She felt as though he knew she was the one who had released all of the creatures from Moribund's.

The man simply stood, "I am excited to see you at Hogwarts, it was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Potter," then he left with a gentle click of the door.

Hibiscus looked at the door then reached down for a different book. The book that talked of the Nundu.

Six days passed and Hibiscus diverted her attention from everything else and began to focus instead on the Nundu egg. The book told her all of the necessary requirements to hatch it. A certain day of the month when the moon and sun were closest was when the process was to begin; magic had to be applied by the master to every crevice of the egg daily for two weeks.

Hibiscus decided that it did not sound exceptionally difficult. The issue would be raising the Nundu, since no one was remembered for taming it in recent wizarding history. She had looked at her star chart from Knockturn Alley, today was the day.

She sat on her bed with the egg in front of her. Pulling her wand tip along the shell, she did as the book instructed. She tried to reach into her magical core, and watched as the gold and silver light burst from the wand and navigated over the egg.

She pulled back feeling a bit tired. The egg continued to pulse gold and silver. After she had sat for a few minutes, she pulled herself from the bed and grabbed a green cloak from a chair it was hanging, putting it over her robes. This was her last day and she still had some errands to run.

She pulled her door shut and locked it with her key. Looking down the hall, she ignored the odd noises coming from her neighbors, and continued down into the bar. When Tom saw her, he gave her a suspicious glance, which she ignored completely. He had been mistrustful of her since what had happened the previous week.

Finally arriving in the alley, Hibiscus walked down to the Magical Menagerie, and entered the store. Hibiscus ignored all of the animals on display. She had quite enough, and she perused the store for cages. The Argurey cage was easiest; she found one big enough to hold the vulture like bird. The snakes, she decided, could make due with a rat cage. The other two however was another story completely. Hibiscus decided that since the unicorn and Runespoor were uncommon, they had to be hidden from the view of muggles. She found two boxes with holes that could accommodate them.

Hibiscus left the store after purchasing all of the food her research had suggested for her animals. When she stepped out of the store, she saw a cart for the Daily Prophet which was apparently wizarding Britain's news. She walked over to the witch working the cart. "I would like to make a subscription." The witch pulled some forms out from her side of the cart and pushed them at her. Hibiscus filled out her name, and where she lived.

The woman looked at Hibiscus's forms, "Jumping dragons, your Hibiscus Potter." Hibiscus ignored the woman and walked to her final destination, Flourish and Blott's.

Hibiscus had been locked in her rooms since Knockturn Alley and had been unable to purchase things personally. However, she thought it would be handy to have a copy of _Household Charms_; besides, it took them too long to send her books by owl. Walking down the alley, Hibiscus glided over the cobblestones in the direction of Flourish and Blott's and ignored the glances people sent her way. After everything that had happened, she was becoming a well recognized public figure.

She walked into the door of her destination. Growling at the disorganization. Even Knockturn Alley had more organization for Merlin's sake.

She avoided the clerk's counter and walked towards what she thought was the charms section. Looking around, she tried to find her book. She walked down the aisle. Then she remembered a spell she had read about. She pulled out her wand and put it on the palm of her hand. "Point me." The magic worked and the wand pointed the way. She finally found the book on the second floor.

She picked it up, and skimmed through it. She decided the charms were so simple that a first year could do them. She walked to the counter and purchased her book. Again ignoring the people around her.

Hibiscus walked back to the bar, ate the Spotted Dick that Tom whipped up for her and then retired to her room. Once she returned to her room she collapsed on the bed tired. Then she remembered that she still had lots to do. She quickly sent a letter to Flitwick saying that she didn't have a ticket to board the Hogwarts Express. Then she attached it to Plumage's leg and watched the Argurey fly over Diagon Alley and into the sky.

She then opened the trunk she had purchased earlier that week and walked over to her new book from Flourish and Blott's. She flipped through it until she saw the spell that packed trunks. She read over the pronunciation then held her wand aloft in the air, pushing it through a spiral motion she said, "Pack." Though it sounded like Pak.

All of her possessions floated to the open trunk. Cloaks danced and floated around walking robes and muggle clothes towards the trunk. Her many, many books floated in on top of that followed by her personal possessions from Knockturn Alley. When all of her school materials were in the trunk, she slashed her wand in a v motion at her mother's old Hogwarts trunk, while saying, "Reducio." The purple light of the spell flashed at her mother's trunk and the trunk went down to an eighth of it's original size. Meaning that it was then easily placed in her bag from Gringrotts, which she put on her nightstand with her wand.

She set up her cages for her pets and placed them towards the door. She decided that since there was an extension charm on her bag, the Nundu egg would go in there.

When she awoke the next morning, she realized that Plumage had come through the open door with instructions from Flitwick about how to get on the train. After she set it down she retrieved muggle clothes, just a pair of jeans and a tank top since it was a sunny day.

Hibiscus easily coaxed her Argurey into it's cage. The unicorn and Runespoor were different matters entirely. The unicorn squealed when she closed the box lid, and the Runespoor hissed at her continuously until she chastised it severely for it's inappropriate language.

She attached them to her trunk underneath the bird cage with some rope. Now wanting to hurry out of the pub so she could make the train, Hibiscus pushed herself to make sure she had everything, grabbed her wand and bag from the table and pulled her trunk out of the room.

She rushed down the stairs and when she reached the bar she gave Tom the key back. "Farewell Miss Potter, good luck catching your train." He shouted after her. Hibiscus did not respond. She simply barreled out of the pub.

Once outside, she breathed in the Muggle London air. Pacing herself, realizing she did have a bit of time to reach King's Cross Station, she ambled along the streets, suitcase in tow.

Two hours later, she stood in front of the train station. Hibiscus walked in and looked for platform nine and three quarters. The teller had just looked at her ticket and laughed ay her. When she found the brick wall described by Flitwick, she pushed her cart at full speed and found herself in the platform for Hogwarts.

Smoke was blasting from the engine, and many people stood with their children, suitcases, and in crowds. She struggled through the throng of people and finally boarded the train. Hibiscus looked for a compartment and sat in the first empty one she found.

When the train was beginning to move, a girl with bushy hair and large buckteeth came in. "May I sit here with you?" the girl asked politely. "Of course, what is your name?" Hibiscus asked. "Hermione Granger. You?" She answered and asked. Hibiscus answered when Hermione tried to put her trunk on the rack above her seat. "Hibiscus Potter." The girl whirled around and gasped. "I remember you, I was in the bookstore when that demented man attacked you," Hermione gushed, "I looked up who the 'Dark Lord' was." Hibiscus looked at her, "Are you muggleborn?" Hermione simply nodded. "I was raised by muggles. My mother's relatives, dreadful people." Hibiscus said.

"When I got my letter, my parents thought it was a hoax." Hibiscus laughed along with Hermione at what she said next. "Then the representative came and turned our couch into a pig."

The two girls chatted about the books they had read that very summer. This soon turned into who knew the more spells. When they decided that Hibiscus was the winner, Hibiscus took her pet's out of their containers. Hibiscus was surprised when Hermione wasn't scared by the Runespoor, and explained how she had come across them all. Except, of course, the Nundu egg, which was hidden from sight.

"You are so brave; I bet you will go into Gryffindor." Hermione said. They then started talking about what they thought to expect of Hogwarts since they had both read _Hogwarts A History._ Hibiscus just shrugged when Hermione speculated what house she would be in, she secretly hoped that she and Hermione were in the same house, she felt like she and Hermione were going to be very good friends.

They continued to chatter, then that bloody ginger came in. Hibiscus had been reclining on the seat, when the redheaded boy came in. "Can I sit with you?" He enquired. Hibiscus had been about to say yes, but then, like always, her scar ruined the day.

"Blimey flobberworms, your Hibiscus Potter, the-girl-who-lived." The boy was hyperventilating by now. "No, you can't sit with us." Hermione interjected, much to Hibiscus's relief. The boy looked at her and narrowed his eyes. "No one asked you, you ugly little beaver." He said looking with distaste at Hermione, obviously making a reference to her buckteeth.

Hibiscus had been itching to try some jinxes for a while. She stood quickly and withdrew her wand. "Leave now." Hibiscus decided he at least deserved a chance to leave. "No, it can," he said, jerking his shoulder at Hermione.

Giving in to her desire to practice, she slashed her wand in the air; magical wizard crackers appeared out of thin air and exploded on the redheaded boy, causing him to try to run away. Hibiscus jumped out of the compartment following him.

Quicker than the eye could observe, she whipped her wand in a circle, "Loco-motor wimbly." Then she watched as the green light hit the boy square in the back causing his knees to give out. However, she was not finished; she shot a sardine hex at him, not sticking around to watch the effects it would wreak on his nostrils.

Right when Hibiscus sat back down a handsome, older, Hogwarts student poked his head in the door. "That was quite a skilled wand arm." He commented. Then he stuck out his hand. "Cedric Diggory," he said to both of them. They shook hands with him, and told him their names. When Hibiscus told him her name, he didn't even react. He soon asked if he could sit with them. They talked until the third year Hufflepuff said they should get dressed and ready for the Welcoming Feast.

They did, and then Hibiscus put her animals back in their cages, and left them on top with her trunk. Stepping off the train, they saw a gigantic man calling for all first years. "Bye, I'll see you both sorted," Cedric smiled at the girls. "Bye," they both said to him.

The giant man led the first years to boats, and then they were carried out by magic towards the castle of Hogwarts. Hibiscus looked up at the magnificent castle that extended well into the sky. She stared with awe, she had finally made it, and she felt, oddly enough, as though she had finally found a home.

Thanks so much to the people who are still reading this story. It means a lot to me that people are reviewing and enjoy my story! Thank you for the commentary, I will work to fix it all!

Also, in answer to Rose's question, I wasn't planning on a jump in time. There will be a lot of changes in the plotline from the original stories.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Tangos with Snakes and The Sorting Hat.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus and Hermione felt too anxious to talk. The book _Hogwarts A History _did not go into elaborate detail as to how they were to be sorted. The boats seemed to take forever to reach the shore of Hogwarts. To Hibiscus, the duration of the travel only added to her apprehension.

The boats pulled into a boat house and Hagrid bellowed for them all to exit their boats. Hibiscus and Hermione walked out of the dock house together. They were almost up the steps to the castle courtyard when _they_ approached them.

A boy with ashen blonde hair and two oversized boys who put Dudley to shame. "I heard that Hibiscus Potter had hexed a weasley, I am ever so glad it was true." The boy looked at her as though expecting her to be overjoyed it was true. "What are you talking about?" Hibiscus asked in mock obscurity. "I never would have hexed a person…" The boy looked at her angrily, "I know you hexed him." The boy pushed.

Hermione looked at the boy, "She said she never hexed him." The boy turned to her and curled his lip. "Who are you?" Hermione looked at him with a pompous expression. "Hermione Granger." The boy scoffed, "Sounds like a mudblood name."

Hibiscus gasped, while Hermione's demeanor began to crack. The other two boys began to snicker. Hibiscus was aware that both she and Hermione had come across that term in_A Muggle-Born's Guide to the Wizarding World_. "I am Draco Malfoy, the Malfoy's posses some of the purest blood in the entire wizarding world." He continued on, not noticing Hibiscus reach for her wand. Hermione stopped her. "It's my turn Hibiscus."

Hibiscus watched as Hermione pointed her wand at one of the oversized boys who was to busy laughing to notice. "Bat bogey." Hermione said ferociously. The boy screamed when his bogey's turned into vicious bats. Hibiscus pulled out her wand to even the match between Hermione and the two boys who had pulled their wands out.

The two girls ran up the rest of the steps into the courtyard. They ignored the magnificent fountain and Hibiscus pulled Hermione to the great door that was on the other side of the courtyard. "They were raised by wizards," Hibiscus said in a rush, "Watch out, they probably know magic." Just as she said it, Malfoy sent a leg locker curse at Hermione. They dodged in different directions.

Hibiscus reached over her shoulder and sent a second year tickling charm at the second oversized boy, "Rictumsempra," the purple light caused him to collapse to the cobbled ground. Hermione shot an incendio charm at the Malfoy, meanwhile. He screamed like a little girl when the flames came flying at him. After she was finished with the other boy, Hibiscus sent her ever favorite sardine hex at him.

Hagrid, by this point arrived in the scene of the crime. "What 'append 'ere?" He bellowed. "We were just having a duel to see who was the better person at defensive magic, sir," Hibiscus said with a honeyed voice, "We never meant for it to get so intense." She looked at the fat boy who had recovered from her tickling charm. "Isn't that right?" The boy looked frightened and nodded up at Hagrid.

"'Ery 'ell then," Hagrid announced. When the rest of the students made it to the courtyard, Hagrid opened the large doors, and lead them into what seemed to be an entry hall. At the moment when the students escaped the cold September evening breeze, a witch wearing green robes and a hat with a brown feather appeared before them.

"Before I allow you all into the hall to be sorted, we must go over basic guidelines. I will call your names at the front of the great hall. You will walk up to the front of the hall and sit on the stool, where you will be sorted into, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Ravenclaw." The woman finished with her Irish accent dropping off. Then, without warning she turned on her heel and walk into the great hall. The doors seemed to magically open in front of her. The first years hesitantly followed.

They stood still and stopped walking at the front of the steps to the staff table. Hibiscus loved the hall they were in. The bewitched ceiling and the windows were amazing. "Can you see Cedric?" Hermione asked. "No, we aren't tall enough," Hibiscus said. They looked in surprise at the mangy old hat that was placed on the heads of the first years. It would scream one of the four houses, at random times. Draco Malfoy was sorted into Slytherin after the hat had barely been placed on his head. So were his friends.

Hermione was called, she seemed to be debating with the hat about something until it relinquished to her and screamed, GRYFFINDOR! She watched as Hermione bounced over to the red table. After at least ten other people had been called, the woman from the entry hall called, Potter, Hibiscus.

The entire hall reacted in one of two ways, leaned forwards in their seats or began whispering to friends.

Hibiscus took a deep breath and sat on the rickety stool. The hat was placed on her head just as she found Cedric sitting amidst a sea of students draped in yellow. The hat penetrated her mind quickly and laughed.

_'__Hibiscus Potter. Even stronger than your parents were. Now, aside from that, what house should I put you in…? Oh the ambition, and cunning ruthlessness, I have seen only one other with nearly this much of it. Maybe, Slytherin…'_

'NOT SLYTHERIN,' Hibiscus thought fiercely.

_The hat quickly moved on. Intelligence too. Almost as much as old Ravenclaw herself. But no, you would not do well with those birds. _

_Definitely not Hufflepuff. Those simple badgers cannot improve upon your loyalty at all.'_

_But your bravery leaves nothing to want for.' The hat sighed, 'Guess that leaves, GRYFFINDOR.' _

Hibiscus practically ripped the hat off her head and basically threw it at the woman in green. She rushed down the stairs and to the table that was producing a thunderous applause. She sat down next to Hermione and they eagerly waited for the feast to end so they could eat. When the last z was sorted, Dumbledore stood and warned them of the rules surrounding the school.

Then he waved his arms, and the two girls dug into the food that had presented itself to them. During the feast, the ghosts appeared before them. Specifically, a gray woman approached Hibiscus. "The hat informed the school of you, and Lady Hogwarts informed me that you could aid me with something. Meet me outside of the Gryffindor common room at midnight tomorrow evening." The specter floated away above the ground, Hermione had not noticed because of a conversation with an older girl. Quickly, Hibiscus reached across the table and tapped the prefect who looked like Ron Weasley. "Who was that?" She asked pointing at the ghost.

He narrowed his eyes in close inspection and looked back at her. "That is the Grey Lady."

Hibiscus looked back to her food and ate until the feast ended. She and Hermione followed Percy to the Gryffindor dormitories with the rest of the Gryffindor first years.

They all arrived at the portrait of a fat woman. "Password please?" The woman demanded. Percy smiled, "Godric of Gryffindor." She swung open and they clambered inside.

The dorm was handsomely decorated in red and gold. The girls were shown their dormitories, while the boys were shown theirs. When she finally made it, Hermione and she realized they had beds next to each other close to the main window, which held a magnificent view of the ForbiddenForest. Instantly, Hibiscus crashed into her bed after changing and went to sleep immediately.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to all of the reviewers and followers and people who marked the story as a favorite. I am sorry for accidently posting chapter six twice and I will fix it ASAP. Please tell me if you liked this chapter and keep reviewing!

Coming Up Next: First Classes and an Heirloom of Old Ravenclaw.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: First Classes and an Heirloom of Old Ravenclaw.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus awoke the next morning, and remembered the Nundu egg. She had almost forgotten the previous day, but had woken right before midnight. She had to do it once more for today also, and all would go well. Quickly she extricated herself from the golden and red blankets and walked into the bathroom that was in the dormitory.

After she had locked the door, she reached for her bag with the extension charm that was placed on it and pulled the egg out. This time, the magic flowed easily to the egg. Hibiscus was becoming more resistant to the draining of her energy, and she still felt energized for the day ahead of her.

She put away the egg in the purse once more and then she locked it in her trunk. By the time Hermione was ready to go to the breakfast, Hibiscus was jumping with excitement at the door. They ran out the portrait of the Fat Lady and descended the many flights leading to the great hall.

They quickly took their seats at the head of the Gryffindor table. Then, just as they had settled down they got their timetables. Without wasting a second, they compared. They smiled; they had all of the same classes. However, much to their unhappiness, they had to deal with the Slytherins in potions all year.

Hibiscus had just buttered some toast when Cedric came up behind her and Hermione. "You two may want to leave before the crowd starts." He suggested. They stood up and tried to keep up with the taller boy. "What class do you two have first?" Cedric asked. "Potions," they replied. "Ugh, Snape, a great way for you two to begin Hogwarts." He groaned.

They had arrived at the top of the dungeons. "During lunch I can show you two all around Hogwarts." He suggested. The two girls nodded in excited synchronization. He smiled and left for arithmancy.

They scurried down further in the dungeons and they followed the directions Cedric had given them. They finally found it in the coldest part of the dungeon. The room smelled of odd spices and burning liquids. They looked at all the tables and found a spot next to each other.

A man walked in, black robes swishing, greasy hair staying firmly in place. "There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few... Who possess the predisposition... I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death."Hibiscus had begun to take notes on his speech intently.

"Ms. Potter," He drawled, "Our…resident celebrity." Hibiscus narrowed her green eyes at him intently. "You will learn in this class that your fame cannot achieve everything for you." Then he smirked, "Tell me what I will get if I add Powdered Root of Asphodel to an infusion of Wormwood?" Hibiscus looked at him with a grin of superiority, "A sleeping potion so powerful that it is referred to as the draught of the living dead." Snape just glared at her. "Where would you look if I tell you to find me a Bezoar?" She grinned widely, "The stomach of a goat," then to put a nail in the coffin, "it can cure many of the world's poisons." The professor snarled out his final question.

"What is the main ingredient in the draft of barbaric blood thirst?" Hermione gave a start; both of the girls knew that this question was not in the material required over the summer. Snape was about to open his foul mouth again, but Hibiscus _knew_ the answer to this question. Then she realized _The Beginners Guide to Necromancy _had discussed this potion. "Blood of a virgin, however many dark wizards prefer to use tainted innocence of a corrupted unicorn." She blurted before he could say anything.

Snape snapped and bellowed, "FIFTY POINTS FROM GRYFFINDOR FOR KNOWLEDGE OF THE DARK ARTS." Hibiscus looked at him with rage. She had not suffered this much injustice since the Dursleys, and she-would-not-tolerate-it. "_You will return those points_." Hibiscus almost hissed. Snape almost opened his mouth, but was distracted, a jar behind him exploded, and then another one popped and released what looked like a vicious jam onto his desk. More continued in the pattern, then Hibiscus stood and began to leave.

Her rage was affecting her telekinetic abilities and she had to leave before disaster struck. Tables were shifting while things continued to crack and explode. Finally she reached the door and fled the class. Hibiscus sighed, she may as well use the rest of the class time to find her charms class.

By the time the flood of students began, she was at the door of charms. When she sat down, Flitwick smiled at her. "Good day Ms. Potter. How is the day treating you?" Hibiscus smiled, potions was a thing of the past. "Good, you professor?" She asked shining a charming white smile. After their conversation ended Hermione made it to the class and told her about the boil curing potion they had produced, which Hibiscus could do asleep.

Then the class began. Flitwick explained that for three weeks they would learn the theory behind charms, and then they would turn to practical theory. Then he began the lesson, Hermione and Hibiscus took turns answering the questions, while everyone else dozed. They had earned Gryffindor sixty points by the end of the class, meaning the fifty taken by Snape were a long distant memory. They walked down to the great hall and waited for Cedric at the entrance. When he appeared, he grinned at Hibiscus. "The first ten minutes of Snape's class and you make him look like an idiot, then you blow up half his class and ditch the rest of the period." Hibiscus groaned and slapped a hand on her face. "How many people know?" Hermione laughed, "Your Hibiscus Potter, you could sneeze and it would be gossip for days." Cedric and Hermione laughed while Hibiscus glared at them.

"Now, are you ready for your tour?" He asked. They nodded in quick assent. It was a good thing that they only had two classes on the first day of term, because they saw _everything_. The kitchens with all of the elves, the bathrooms all over the school, passage ways that Cedric had discovered through his first two years. There were many more, but those were the main ones. It was passed dinnertime when they finished, but Hibiscus did not care. They were all full of the rich food the house elves had prepared for them and she had no desire to deal with Snape in the great hall.

It was just at curfew that they all made it to the GryffindorTower. "Goodbye ladies." Cedric began to leave, but Hibiscus held him back after Hermione went into the portrait. "Cedric," she began, "The gray lady told me that Hogwarts told her that I could help her with something, you know lots more defensive magic then Hermione and me, and can you meet us here at midnight?" Cedric listened with interest. "Of course! Besides, I love sneaking out under Filch's nose." They exchanged farewells, then Hibiscus went up and told Hermione about it, who agreed to come wholeheartedly.

Hibiscus and Hermione walked outside and saw Cedric in front of the portrait. They barely had time to say hello, before the Grey Lady floated before them. "Come," she said, her usually dour expression filled with excitement for an unexplainable reason. They followed quickly after the drifting ghost.

Finally, she stopped. "This is the room of requirement, you need only ask for the room of hidden things." Hermione began to turn a violent shade of red. "It is a bloody WALL!" The Grey Lady ignored her and looked at Hibiscus. "Your friends may go with you; however you are the only one that can find what lies within." Hibiscus stared at her, "What lies within?" "You will know it when you see it, young one." Then the ghost motioned her forwards.

As Hibiscus stood in front of the wall, she imagined the room the Grey Lady described. Then, a door began to form. When it opened, they all walked in to the towering room of long forgotten treasures and garbage.

"Let's split up," Cedric suggested. So they did, Hibiscus going straight. She began to feel something, oddly enough. A wave was rolling over her by the time she reached a circle in the maze. She was about to continue walking forwards when she saw the table. Hibiscus reached out and pulled the rope off of the table. Then, a black box was uncovered.

Slowly, she opened the box and looked at what was inside. Hibiscus gasped at the beauty of it. The large black jewel in the middle of the ornate silver and gold tiara. She turned it around and looked at the inscription that was on the back of the crown, _wit beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure. _

The doors clanged with a slam, the Grey Lady looked up. The three Hogwarts students stood there. The girl with the gold and red hair and vibrant green eyes stood there holding it. The Grey Lady just stared at her.

"What is it?" The girl asked. "The Diadem of Old Ravenclaw." The Grey Lady said, a glimmer, long gone, returned to her eyes. "You are going to help me scourge it of darkness."

Thanks for reading! Please review and keep reading.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: Purifying the Diadem and the Third Floor Corridor.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The week had passed successfully. Hibiscus was already the top student in almost all of her classes so far. Well, almost all of them. Potions was something she refused to demonstrate her prowess in. Since she refused to go, Snape had begun to take away forty points every day she was absent. However, she easily gained back these points.

In Transfiguration that day, they had gone over Blibber's theory of magical displacement of matter. It had been quite enthralling to learn about, her and Hermione both paid studious attention. Transfiguration was the only class aside from potions that she did not reach the top spot. Hermione was more than enough competition

Then, the last class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. That class was _almost_ complete rubbish. She could not stand stuttering Quirrell. Though, even she had to admit it was nice to practice spells on other students. The only problem was that when she used something stronger than a simple leg locking curse, Quirrell would become irate.

She and Hermione walked to the class. When they finally reached the class, the Hufflepuffs who were also entering looked at her fearfully and disseminated to their seats. Hibiscus merely shrugged, their fear was well founded, none of them could compete with her in a duel.

Quirrell walked in from his office, his annoying turban firmly and strategically wrapped around his head. "T-today, we wi-ill le-ea-arn the-the b-bat-bo-bogey hex, c-class." He said. Even though his stuttering usually annoyed her endlessly, Hibiscus was excited, a useful hex. Not some form of half-baked witchcraft!

Ignoring him completely, she waited for him to tell them to practice the hex with partners. When he finally stuttered for them to practice she leapt from her seat and she snatched Hermione's hand. When she and Hermione dueled, it was challenging. Hermione was a mountain compared to the other students. During their duels they even went off of the spells taught and dueled freely, much to the chagrin of Quirrell.

When they had retrieved their area at the back of the class, they pulled out their wands. "Bat-Bogey," Hermione stated clearly, flicking her wand. Hibiscus dropped in a crouch and ducked the purple light then shot a sardine hex in retaliation. Hermione sidestepped it. Before Hermione could say anything, she said, "Flipendo." That was a second year jinx that she had been working on.

It crashed into the stone behind Hermione and caused spider-web cracks to form along the surface. When Quirrell had finally noticed that they were hitting the Hufflepuffs with their flyaway jinxes, hexes and occasional curses, he stopped them and exiled them from the class.

The girls went to the library to do some research. During the week they had decided they needed to get in the restricted section which was not too difficult. They had tricked Hagrid into writing a pass for them during the tea time he had invited them to. He was an adult figure on the grounds, so it had been successful.

The research they were doing was for the Grey Lady. They had agreed to help her, at least Hibiscus had. Cedric and Hermione were just following suit. Hibiscus enjoyed this part of the library very much. However, many of the spells were far out of even _Cedric's _capabilities, and he was an advanced third year. Before dinner they had gone through five books each on dark spells that tainted magical objects.

Then they left and went to the feast. However, they did not make it because of one Draco Malfoy. "Well, if it isn't my two favorite mudbloods." He drawled. "I thought the lesson we taught you last time would be enough, my favorite inbred piece of flesh." Hibiscus snarled. The boy growled at Hibiscus, she just kept on. "At least you were man enough to stand up to two girls alone this time." She said pointing out that he didn't have friends with him.

The blonde merely pulled out his wand, while Hibiscus and Hermione did so as well. Before they realized what was going on, a leg locker curse hit Hermione from behind. Hibiscus jumped out of the way. She looked about; there were two older students from Slytherin. One a boy, the other a girl. They had to be at least fifth years. Hibiscus snarled. They were going down, she _knew _it. All three wands were pointed at her. "Have you met my friends, Potter?" Malfoy asked with a smirk. "No, but they are about to meet me." She replied tauntingly. She acted as though she was going to curse Malfoy but whipped her stinging hex spot on at the girl's torso, who fell to the ground in pain.

Hermione flicked her wand at Malfoy and said, "Flipendo." He flew into the wall, and then Hibiscus maintained her wand point on the final boy. Hermione slowly turned on the floor and did as well. Hibiscus grinned, almost in synchronization; the two girls whipped their wands and said the sardine nose hex incantation. They boy fell on his knees and Hibiscus undid the effects of the leg locker curse on Hermione so they could leave.

The next morning, Hibiscus fed her unicorn which was well liked in the dormitory. The Runespoor stayed under her bed per instruction. Hibiscus's egg was getting close, a week had gone by and it was taking less energy everyday. The book said that once the egg hatched, the Nundu would grow rapidly, yet, Hibiscus would be in complete control of it.

After she was done, she and Hermione went down to enjoy their Saturday morning with each other. Then Plumage, her Argurey, came in bearing her mail. The daily prophet was quickly unrolled and read. Hibiscus was highly shocked at what she read.

GRINGOTTS BANK SECURITY BREACHED

She hit Hermione on the shoulder, "When I went to Gringrotts with Flitwick this summer, he withdrew something from vault 713." She said pointing at the vault number that was robbed. Then Hermione looked up from the paper, "Another vault was broken into." Hibiscus looked at the number. "That's my bloody vault," she muttered vehemently. Then Hibiscus noticed the other note Plumage had brought.

_Dear Ms. Potter, _

_We have meticulously poured over the inventory of your vault. Nothing was stolen. It is inexcusable that this bank has failed you and your trust in us. We have decided to endow a thousand galleons as compensation for this breach in security. _

_Dapherdon Gaudon, _

_Chief Goblin of Gringott's Global Banking System. _

Hibiscus merely wondered about the trunk. It was all she had taken aside from her money. Maybe whoever had broken into the vault had been after that, and it made her curious as to what her mother had hidden behind those enchanted locks that was so desirable to a thief.

After breakfast they met up with Cedric, and then they all went to the restricted section of the library. Research was main focus on Hibiscus's mind. She had made a promise to the Grey Lady and she could wait to work on the trunk.

Hibiscus soon became bored of reading about tainting of light magic. So she looked up and found a necromantic book on the soul to read. It was in this book that she found something. On the bottom of the page she saw a thing called a horcrux mentioned in passing. Whenever she felt a tingle in her spine, Hibiscus followed it. So, she spent the rest of the day looking for it.

The light soon turned into dark, and Cedric told her it was time to go for the feast. "Fine." She sighed in reluctant relent. Before she closed her book she finally found it. Written in the margins in neat, scrupulous handwriting. _Horcruxs aredefined and explained in Wimbledon__'__s guide to soul splitting. _Hibiscus gasped in shock and slammed the book shut. She ran down the shelves while Cedric and Hermione called after her. Looking at the authors and titles, she found it.

The book was covered in dust from years of lack of use. Hibiscus blew it off and skimmed through it. Cedric and Hermione had finally caught up to her. "What did you find?" They asked. Hibiscus smirked, "The answer to what taints the Diadem."

She read the entire small book the next day after she did her homework. Then at lunch she read over it with Hermione and Cedric. "There is a potion which we need to make and a ritual to learn tonight." Hibiscus explained, "I think we can remove the piece of soul trapped inside and send it back where it came from." Cedric was still confused, "But you told us that Horcruxs put up some resistance if tampered with, and we don't know how powerful the wizard who made this was, nonetheless a piece of their soul."

Hibiscus smiled grimly, "The likelihood of him or her having a stronger magical core than all of us combined is unlikely, and you know about my suspicions surrounding my magical core…" Hibiscus had told them about her wand store encounter and how spells that had a direct connection to the power of a wizard's core that she performed were pure in color when she cast them. Her research had shown that a pure core, especially silver and gold which was the color of some of her spells, were very powerful. Cedric finally gave in, "Fine."

So she then told them all of the ingredients they had to steal for her potion. Then she decided it would be better if they went a little bit into the ForbiddenForest to brew it and perform the ritual.

Hibiscus was impressed, in over two hours Cedric and Hermione had stolen from Snape, Sprout and the Runes teacher. "We have all of the ingredients," Cedric announced when he and Hermione entered with full arms into the clearing. Hibiscus had set up and beckoned them forward, "This will take an hour of deep concentration and brewing." Hibiscus said, "Are you sure you are skilled enough to do this, Cedric?" The boy nodded and began the potion while the two girls snuck out of the forest and into the castle. They had decided that the Grey Lady should be present, and they needed the Diadem.

Hibiscus came out of the fat lady an hour later with the Diadem and all of her pets taken care of. Hermione came around a corner, the Grey Lady next to her. "Is that all we need?" Hermione asked. Hibiscus merely nodded her head. They quickly fled, the Grey Lady distracting all of their human obstacles such as Filch from seeing them enter the forest.

When they got to the clearing, they saw Cedric stirring the cauldron. "Is it ready?" Hibiscus asked carefully. Cedric grinned, "The perfect shade of viscous black and green." It was _very_ dark by now, things howling in the woods. Hibiscus helped Cedric set up the ruins in the muddy dirt. They had nicked a ruins knife from the Ruins class.

Then they waited while the Grey Lady looked up at the moon. The ritual _had _to be done right at midnight. It was of vital importance to the ritual since dark magic was at it's weakest on a waxing moon at twelve. Hibiscus had double checked the calendar from Knockturn Alley.

When the clock got close to twelve they stood. "Are you ready?" She asked them. The other two solemnly nodded. They were ready to help Hibiscus no matter what. They strangely felt as though they had been friends for a while. Hermione picked up the Diadem. First thing first, they had to subdue the soul trapped in the vessel with their magic. Hermione took the Rune's knife and sliced her palm, dripping blood on the Diadem. The soul inside pushed and she threw it and the knife at Cedric. "I'm not strong enough to hold it, add your magic to mine, quickly." Hermione shrieked from the ground where she had fallen. Cedric did so quickly and was shoved to the ground as well.

Hibiscus snatched it from him and sliced her palm, then she stared at the Diadem, and she dripped her blood right onto the black gemstone. She hoped in that moment with all her heart that her core would be strong enough to battle the soul inside the Diadem, or it would definitely come out and attack them.

After a few moments, the soul's presence began to return back into the Diadem, under the power of their cores. Hermione and Cedric stood slowly, regaining their health. They looked at each other while Cedric looked at his watch, "It is time," he said.

All three of them took out their wands, and then Hibiscus walked over to the potion and dropped the Diadem inside. As soon as they backed away seven steps each in different directions, they began to whip their wands in the pattern they had studied that afternoon, then they chanted the incantation, "_Abies anti anima." _Their wands released mists the color of their cores. Hermione was producing a dark blue and gray, whereas Cedric was creating a shimmering yellow and black and Hibiscus her usual gold and silver.

"_Abies anti anima."_ The Hogwarts students said again in unison. It had begun to rain, the water pounding down on the clearing while their magic drifted together above the cauldron, spinning above as though it were a tornado. Then it struck the cauldron, causing green to flash through the entire forest, knocking them all off their feet. Hibiscus felt a pounding pain in her neck as it felt like something was ripped out. Then, she swore she saw a handsome, pale boy in the clearing with them who had dark hair, until she blinked black spots away and did not see him anymore. The three students looked up with dread as the lights of Hogwarts began to flicker on suddenly. "Hurry," Hibiscus shouted. She stumbled to her feet and ran to the cauldron.

Inside the tiara gem gleamed blue and bronze opposed to it's previous onyx black, the black and green liquid completely gone. They began to rush from the clearing until Hibiscus stopped them. "We can't leave all of the materials; the teachers may be able to realize what we were doing." Hibiscus said in a jumbled rush. Cedric pushed her aside and began to direct blast curses at the site of the crime.

"Defodio, confringo, bombarda," They began to run, the Grey Lady floating behind them as the entire clearing exploded. Trunks were hurled from the ground, the ground was thrown into the creek which was behind the surrounding trees, which blew high into the air and crashed into the ground.

By this point, all of the creatures of the ForbiddenForest were after them. Scuttles and hooves, claws and panting scraped through the forest air. However, they avoided it all and hid from Dumbledore and the rest of the professors who had rushed into the forest after them. Cedric led them to the broom shed, where he busted the door open with a quick and well aimed smashing hex on the aging door.

"Have you two taken your flying lessons yet?" He asked quickly. They shook their heads no and he growled with ferocity. "Take these brooms and I will show you how." They tried to kick, at least Hermione did, and Hibiscus was a natural master at it. Cedric ordered Hermione to get on his broom and they all flew in the air. They reached a window near Ravenclaw window which Cedric blew open with another smashing hex. They all got in the building and abandoned their brooms on the floor.

The trio had almost were on the forth floor corridor when Ms. Norris appeared before them. They looked at each other as they heard Filch calling out about who was there. Then they ran quickly as though the devil was on their heels. They went down the stairs which led into the third floor corridor, which was strictly prohibited, with the slightest hesitation before they continued on.

The corridor was dark and empty. They ran all the way passed a dark statue to the door at the end of the hall. The door was locked and they looked back at Filch who had come in behind them. Then, Hermione nearly shouted, "Alohamora." Causing the lock to click and them to fly in. They almost screamed at the sight of the three headed dog. They quickly fled the gaping jaws and left, but not before Hibiscus saw the trapdoor under it's paw.

Filch was gone and they hurried in different directions to their dormitories. As the two girls got into bed, Hibiscus brought up what she had seen. "They are hiding something." Hermione answered. "Dumbledore is hiding something behind that trapdoor." Hibiscus thought for a moment and said, "Do you suppose it's the package from the vault? Someone tried to break in to Gringrotts for a reason…" Hermione looked at the wall for a moment, "Whatever it is, we may never know, however, what happened tonight was enough for me."

Hibiscus agreed, and then she looked at the words carved on the Diadem, before getting up and locking it in her trunk. After that she brought her unicorn, gossamer, and Runespoor, hiss, in bed with her and fell asleep.

Quirrell was sobbing into his hands while Voldemort looked at the wall, telepathically punishing Quirrell, in his rage. Someone had discovered his Diadem. Then they had separated the soul from the Diadem. However, the soul, for some strange reason had not returned to him.

The only possibility was… But that was out of the question.

"Quirrell, send a message to my followers. Ask them to gather in the ForbiddenForest on New Years Eve. Then, ask Lucretia Fleming how she has been dealing with our dear Lily Potter." The two-faced professor nodded, sobbing into his hands.

Thank you for reading. Two new characters are coming into the picture, can you guess who? Please review.

Next Chapter

Chapter Ten: A Meeting with Dumbledore and Flying Lessons.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: A Meeting with Dumbledore and Flying Lessons.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The next morning, Hibiscus woke exhausted. Thankfully, she had potions for her first class. So when the other girls left she snuggled closer to her unicorn and went back to sleep. When the alarm charm that she had taught herself with Hermione went off, she jumped out of her bed. She dressed and snatched her bottomless purse and wand from her nightstand.

Hibiscus ran out of the tower and rushed for her Herbology class. Down the stairs, past the corridor, then the great hall. Hibiscus was in the courtyard when she ran into Cedric. "Hibiscus," he warned, "We did a lot of damage to the ForbiddenForest last night…" She looked at him, "What do you mean?" He hesitated, "The Ministry and Daily Prophet are out in the forest." This, she supposed, was meant to explain everything, which it did not. It only caused her curiosity to grow.

Cedric ran to his Arithmancy class, while she ran to the Herbology class, she had to make it before class began so she could look at the forest. She ran over the viaduct, she at least had five minutes to spare.

When she made it to the Herbology section, two minutes later, she quickly looked at the view of the Forest, her eyes widened tremendously. Hermione silently came up beside her, or maybe Hibiscus was too preoccupied to notice.

"I doubt that just Cedric's blast curses did that." Hermione said. The other girl just nodded her agreement. The section of the forest they had performed the ritual in looked like a warzone, that is, a magical warzone. There were craters all over the ground and the creek which had exploded the night before was creating mud puddles in some of the said holes. Then she looked passed that and saw the fires. They were all over the forest.

"The green light that came out of the cauldron must have set those fires…" Hibiscus inferenced. Hermione looked at her, "I was thinking, that must have been the soul; it couldn't attack us because of the precautions we took." Hibiscus felt guilt flare, if they hadn't done a single part of that ritual right, they probably would have been killed. She looked at the other first year and noticed something sour in her expression. "What?" Hibiscus asked. "You promised us that what we were doing would not cause harm or trouble to anything."

Hibiscus looked at her with deep incredulousness. "You decided to do it of your own free will." Hermione glared at her, "We broke almost all of the Hogwart's rules and at _least six_ Wizengenmot laws." Hibiscus felt empty inside, she wished she had never done it. Hermione was a great friend and she did not want to lose her. "If anyone finds out we will be expelled, and we can kiss the Wizarding World a permanent goodbye." Hermione said with her nose in the air.

The bushy haired girl spun around and into Herbology. Hibiscus reluctantly followed her.

The rest of that day had gone horribly. Hibiscus felt awful. She had put Cedric's and Hermione's places in the magical world at stake. Since Hermione wasn't talking to her, and she was too apprehensive as to how Cedric would react to her, Hibiscus simply went to the library that evening.

She first returned that book on soul splitting to the restricted section. Then she went and looked at second year defense spells. She was reading about the disarming jinx, when Cedric came around the corner of the shelve she was sitting at. "What are you doing in here during the feast?" Hibiscus looked up slowly from the book. "Why are you talking to me?" He looked at her with an odd look. "Why wouldn't I be talking to you?"

Hibiscus sighed, "I almost got you two killed, nonetheless expelled, all to cleanse a dumb Diadem for a stupid _ghost_ of all things." Cedric looked at her harshly, "I would expect you to look at the bigger picture, you stopped some dark wizard out there somewhere from doing harm to people and remaining immortal. You also relieved a _person, _not a _ghost, _of a burden that has been on her shoulders for centuries."

"Now, if you are quite done being angry at yourself, you can come to dinner with me while Hermione, who is being foolish, can eat by herself." Hibiscus looked up at him and stood, and then they walked to the great hall together.

The feast went as usual, however, Hibiscus sat at the Hufflepuff table. All of the other badgers were rowdy and fun to be around. She watched as Cedric's friends flinged food, flirts and jinxes at the nearby Slytherin table.

She and Cedric finished the treacle tart which was especially delicious that night and began to stand, until another first year approached her. "Professor Dumbledore wishes for you to meet him in his office," the flustered girl said. "He told me to say he likes temperamental whipping raspberry wands." Then the girl noticed Cedric, blushed, and ran away.

Hibiscus raised an eyebrow and he just smirked. "Bye Cedric," Hibiscus said reluctantly. He smiled and waved goodbye, leaving with his friend Zacharias Smith. She waited for the crowd to go down, and when it did she began the long ascent of the stairs to the headmaster's office. She finally realized she didn't know where it was and had to ask a sixth year, _Slytherin_. Finally she reached the gargoyles and as she tried to pass them, they jumped in front of her, fangs bared.

Hibiscus leapt back, and then she realized that they probably required a password like all of the portraits of the school. "Temperamental whipping raspberry wands." The gargoyles leapt away and she entered. When she walked through the second door, she saw Hermione sitting in a chair across from Dumbledore.

"Ms. Potter, come here," the old man beckoned to the empty chair. When she sat and ignored Hermione scooting from her, he continued. "Already, we are in the second week," he smiled, "and your teachers have come to me saying they are concerned with you two being in first year."

Hermione edged forward on her seat eagerly while Hibiscus stared incredulously, she knew that Snape would _never_ say this to Dumbledore. The old man smiled benevolently at the girls. "That is why I have decided that if you two can pass the first year exam, you can begin class with the second years next week." Hermione was obviously full of questions. "Sir, when will we take it?" The headmaster smiled at her, "Well Ms. Granger, I arranged for it to be this Thursday." The first year screamed in despair, and ran yelling to herself about studying.

"What of you Ms. Potter? Are you going to use your time to study?" Dumbledore asked. Hibiscus was extremely confused, "Professor, did Snape approach you? Because I have not attended a class of his since the beginning of the year." The old man smiled at her. "Professor Snape, Hibiscus, and he did," the man chided gently, "I think you remind him of someone from a long time ago." The man got a hazy look in his deep blue and then he sent her away.

The next morning was potions again, then, was her flying lessons. Hibiscus was so excited that she was up an hour before the other girls and completely ready. They all got ready and looked at her with surprise. Hibiscus had not been up this early since the beginning of the year.

Hibiscus merely ignored them and ran off to breakfast. She made it to the hall five minutes later. Then she grabbed and buttered some toast, loaded bacon and eggs on it, then left quickly. Hibiscus hurried down to the dungeons.

When she had been walking back to her dormitory last night, she had decided that it was in her best interest to push herself through potions class. Hibiscus finally reached the potions door and took a deep breath, composing herself. Almost everyone was in the class already. Draco Malfoy almost passed out in fear when he saw her.

Snape smirked, "Ms. Potter, what a surprise. You may want to sit before class begins…," He paused, "it is not wise to be on my bad side." Hibiscus quickly sat next to a girl named Padma Patil. She did not understand why she was so quick to set up for the class. She was obviously already on his bad side.

"Today," the man drawled out, "you will brew the draught of the Lethe. Whoever creates the most potent brew will earn fifty points for their house." Hibiscus was ready; she looked at the ingredients and sent Padma to retrieve them. When the girl came back Hibiscus had everything set up and began to dice the whipping tree leaves. Then she continued to prepare the materials while Padma continued to put in ingredients.

Hibiscus stopped when she looked at the rest of the ingredients needed. She had remembered something from a book. In the _Potions Most Darke_ from the restricted section, it had given a modified version of the Lethe Draught. If she made the modifications, her potion would be so potent that someone would forget the past month. The only issue was that it would be considered dark magic. Hibiscus shrugged, she could do this, besides, she remembered the potion directions quite clearly because she had even compared it to the ones in her textbook.

Hibiscus stopped Padma from dumping in the essence of maggot. "I need these ingredients instead." Then at the look of confusion, "I was looking at the wrong potion." Padma nearly shrieked in rage, grabbed the list Hibiscus had written and rushed off to retrieve them. Hibiscus then did damage control and poured in eye of newt and snake fang to counter act the effects of what they had put in the cauldron.

Padma had returned and the two quickly followed the recipe she read from Hibiscus's 'potion's text book.' Right when Snape called to say time, Hibiscus tossed the adder head venom in the cauldron and stirred it three times counter clockwise, the potion turning into a deep and forgetful blue.

Snape began walking around, Hibiscus took in a deep breath while he surveyed Neville Longbottom's melted cauldron. They were next. Snape walked over to their cauldron and narrowed his eyes. "Which one of you two was in charge of the directions?" Hibiscus looked at him boldly and said, "I did."

"Fifty points for the utilization of dark magic, and three detentions this week." The potion's master practically snarled. All of the students looked at her with shock except Hermione who was aware of Hibiscus's studies in the dark arts. "Excuse me _sir, _but you promised to award fifty points to the brewer of the most potent Lethe Draught, and that seems to be me." He simply ignored her and awarded the points to Malfoy, silently refusing to acknowledge Hermione's potion.

He was walking up to his desk right before the class ended when she decided to utterly humiliate him. It was quite an easily accomplished task. Hibiscus flicked her hand, pushing her telekinesis at his robes, causing him to trip on them and go flying across the floor. Everyone busted into laughter. Then he turned and stared at them all, silently daring one person to laugh. Hibiscus ignored him and tossed her head back laughing, her first smile that ever graced the dungeons seemed to make the shadows dance backwards and the darkness recede. Then the bell rang and she was the first one out of the class and outside for her flying lessons.

Hibiscus stood outside next to a star shooter 15. Madame Hooch stood before them all, giving directions. "First, I want you all to tell your brooms, up. You outstretch your palms and then the broom should rise to your hands." Hibiscus looked at Ron Weasley and Malfoy struggling and laughed. "Up." She said with force and clarity in her tone. The broom soared to her palm and she shot them a smug look.

Eventually everyone had done the task successfully. "Now, I want you all to kick off and hover for a few seconds then to come back down." They almost kicked off, then Neville Longbottom flew through the air and nearly broke his arm off.

Hibiscus watched while Hooch ran off with Neville. Then she turned and saw his rememberall which had fallen to the ground. She started to walk towards it until Malfoy snatched it up. "Give that to me Malfoy," she said, whipping out her wand. "I think you better put that away, with all of these witnesses around," he said. Hibiscus did so reluctantly.

After she had done so, "You better give it to me now." Malfoy just grinned and kicked off the ground on his broom, soaring in the air. Hibiscus snarled, preparing to take off, when surprisingly, Hermione stepped forward. "Hibiscus, you heard Hooch, if you do this you could get expelled." Hibiscus was aware of this, but she needed to put that sick little jerk in his place. "I'm sorry Hermione, for everything." Hermione just sighed, "Apology accepted."

So Hibiscus flew into the air like a dart after Malfoy, when she approached, he threw the ball with great force at a window. Hibiscus leaned forward and flew straight towards the window diving and stopping right before she crashed. The rememberall had been caught and was clutched in her hands. Hibiscus grinned as she slowly floated back to ground. Sadly, she failed to notice Professor McGonagall who came outside and led her all the way to the charms class.

Once they made it there, she called out a boy named Wood. When he asked why they were all there McGonagall smiled. "I have found you a seeker." Hibiscus looked at the professor incredulously. "Excuse me?"

"Yes professor, she is only a first year girl." Hibiscus rounded on him, "After McGonagall has explained all I am going to hex you into the next month." He blanched and looked at the professor.

"Ms. Potter made a dive Charlie Weasley could not have pulled off." The boy began to look excited. "If that is the case, then we are going to need a good broom for her to use." The boy began to say excited.

Hibiscus sighed. "I never said I would join the bloody Quidditch team." McGonagall smiled, "You did not have to. It is either this or I can have you expelled from Hogwarts."

Hibiscus quite obviously decided to join the Quidditch team.

She stood at the edge of the AlbanianForest. It was a clear crisp day, and the air reeked of pine trees and blood. She had successfully managed to capture a Kappa from Voldemort's forces.

Lily Potter needed information, and this Kappa would give it to her. Since it was not a human she could not use her… persuasive talents. So she resorted to cutting hexes, torture curses, imperious charms and such.

Eventually the Kappa answered her questions. Lily Potter grew worrisome when she discovered where Voldemort was, and why Lucretia Fleming was leading his followers to the Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts.

This was troublesome news, not only was the Philosopher's stone there, but so was her daughter. Voldemort had to be stopped and Dumbledore had to be warned before his plans were set in motion.

Quickly, Lily Potter shot a killing curse at the Kappa. Then she began to flee, she heard the werewolves approaching.

Lily Potter was about to disapparate when Lucretia Fleming latched onto her from nowhere. Two things were absolutely certain to Lily Potter in that moment. She was splinched and she would be warning no one of the impending attack on Hogwarts.

Hello kind readers. I am so terribly sorry I have not updated this story in so long. Also, I am sorry if this chapter is not good. It did not feel like my best work. But anyways, school has kept me busy, finals coming up, etc. So please read and review and favorite my story. I am going to have more time to write and I will begin to regularly update my story again.

Next Chapter: The Nundu Hatches and The Exam Nightmare.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: The Nundu Hatches and The Exam Nightmare.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus sat in the library that Wednesday evening before Astronomy class. She had just finished reading her entire transfiguration book for the fourth time in preparation for the exams which would begin the next day. Then she picked up her book on the Nundu.

The chapter she was on began talking about how depending on the strength of the wizard who was hatching the egg affected the time it took for the egg to hatch. Hibiscus was well aware at this point that she had great potential for magical power and was hiding the egg with her at all times.

An hour later she looked up from a book on defensive magic for first years to see Cedric approaching. She saw him smile at her and felt butterflies dancing in her stomach. Hibiscus shook her head and waved at him as he came closer.

"Well, well," he said, "if it isn't the book worm. I haven't seen you all day." Hibiscus smiled sheepishly at him, "sorry, the exam is tomorrow and I want to make sure I know all of the material." Cedric looked incredulously at her after she said this. "I am quite sure that you are perfectly capable of first year spells and all of those other unspeakables."

Hibiscus glared at him, "The exams are tomorrow, and I am a bit rusty." Then, Cedric grinned in response. "Then why don't we go and practice," he was still smirking, "you obviously know the pragmatics behind your classes."

"Fine, let's go find somewhere we can practice." They left the library and ran into Hermione who looked like a mess. "Where are you going Hibiscus? Don't you know how irresponsible it is for you to go running off with Cedric instead of preparing for the exam?" They explained what they were doing and her eyes brightened. They invited her along and all three rushed out to the courtyard. The curfew had been extended for the astronomy classes that evening so they ran into no trouble on their way.

"Now," Cedric said turning to them, "I have seen you both quite capably hex and jinx the population of this school. However, we need to make sure you know what the curriculum's spells are so you can meet the requirements." He turned them to the wall and they shot all of the required spells successfully. It went on in this manner until they had memorized all of the practical magic for charms, defense and transfiguration.

Cedric walked with them to the Astronomy tower and they bade him farewell. The girls entered the class and said hello to Professor Sinistra. They were both told to go and identify the measurements of that evening's planet movements and how they would affect magic that evening after she explained to the class of the power of certain spells on certain measurements for select planets. Much to the two girls chagrin, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bullstrode sat next to them.

Though, the two annoying blood supremacist girls became more bearable after they messed up three times in a row and had to redo their star charts. This of course caused immense delight for Hibiscus and Hermione who laughed all the way to bed in the Gryffindor tower, feeling totally prepared for their exams the next day.

Of course, Hibiscus never realized that things did not work in the favor of girls like her.

The morning was dark the next day. Hibiscus and Hermione awoke and deactivated their alarm charms with a quick flick and, "finite." The two girls took turns with the shower then dressed into their school robes in front of their trunks. Side by side they walked passed all of the other girls who were slumbering and out into the common room.

Ron Weasley was awake and they ignored his staring. He had grown this odd habit ever since Hibiscus had attacked him on the train. Lethargically they navigated down the steps of the moving staircase and shivered passed the third floor. When the two girls reached the great hall they ate in silence. They were both so nervous that they could barely eat, nonetheless speak.

When Hibiscus realized that Hermione had long given up on her food, Hibiscus stood. The two girls then trudged to Flitwick's class. He would give them the exam first due to his lack of a class. They walked up to the charms corridor and passed all of the doors to extracurricular classes associated with the core subject.

Hermione pushed the door open and they saw Flitwick putting together his stack of books he would stand on that day. He looked at them and squeaked in excitement. "Come in, come in." He clapped them in and pushed them into two seats. "So amazing that you two are about to test into second year early. I always sensed greatness from both of you."

The two girls smiled and muttered their thanks. "Now," he said in a more calmed manner, "first you will take a test examining your skill with the logical side of this class." He waved his wand and a test appeared before them both on their desks. The two girls edged forwards in their seats, quills ready. "Begin." The charms professor said, causing them to pounce.

Hibiscus had no problem with the questions, neither did Hermione. They were simple questions asking for incantations and properties of charms magic. She worked efficiently as the time began to tick away. Hibiscus had just finished her essay on how the incendio charm's differing variations were effective in necessary situations when Flitwick called time.

"Now, I would like you two to make this pineapple dance across my desk." He beamed. Hermione went first and swished her wand, "tarentallegra." The pineapple swished across the desk. Then Hibiscus did the same but something was off.

As soon as the pineapple was done dancing, she staggered into the desk. Hibiscus felt as though the energy was leaving her body. Then, it stopped. She realized that no one had noticed and Hermione and Flitwick were chatting amiably.

The rest of the exams were, different. They then had to go to potions where Snape made them brew a draft of fungal cure from pure memory. All the while he breathed down Hibiscus's neck and she shivered in near rage. She would still have to serve his detentions he had assigned her.

When they had both successfully completed their potions, they rushed to transfiguration. There, they had to complete an exam on the theoretical aspect of transfiguration. Then they had to turn a mouse into a snuffle box, the amount of points was determined by how pretty it was. Hibiscus knew she had surpassed Hermione because McGonagall had grinned at the Gryffindor theme of hers.

Herbology passed easily, they simply had to identify specific plants then demonstrate how to properly weed a snapping golden whipping bush. In other words, they had to weed a flower bed for professor sprout for an hour.

Astronomy was next and they had to identify and correct charts that were riddled with mistakes. After their hour to do so ended, they smiled in relief. Only two classes left.

History of Magic was boring as ever. The two girls were lucky there was a text book or they would not have stood a chance against the exam. Then the two girls finished their exam on the root of the Goblin Wars. Finally they turned in their exams and staggered to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Hibiscus walked through the door and felt exhausted again. This feeling had been coursing through her all day. She followed Hermione to Quirrell's desk, where he began stuttering at them. Hibiscus zoned out, she could not deal with it right now. She closed her eyes. "P-p-potter, look –a-at me when I speak to you." Quirrell snapped. Hibiscus nodded, narrowing her eyes. She felt like he had become so angry he had, _forgotten_ to stutter. Instead of pondering it further, she pushed away her suspicions and tried to focus on her battle with her exhaustion.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked. Hibiscus merely nodded. Quirrell then decided to snap, "Granger." She went over and he set up her dummy, telling her what spells she was expected to be able to launch at it. Curse of the bogies, leg locker curse, pushdown jinx and the hex of sardines. She knew them all and Hibiscus smiled as they all hit the dummy with ease.

"P-potter," he pointed where Hermione had been standing, "your turn." There was a malicious glint in his eyes that Hibiscus did not like. Even though she was very curious as to what had died up his bottom, she had to focus on casting her spells correctly and battling her fatigue.

Her wand extended, Hibiscus stood in preparation. "Le-Leg Locker C-Curse Pott-er." She launched it and the dummy shuddered intensely. Hibiscus shivered, sweat was beading on her forehead. It continued like this, each time Hibiscus grew even weaker. Finally, he told her to cast the reductor curse for her last spell.

Black spots were dancing on her eyes and Hibiscus was shaking. The first time she pushed her wand in a circular motion and said the incantation, sparks only shot out. Hibiscus looked around and saw Hermione looking on in concern while Quirrell was having a field day with her failure. He opened his mouth as though he was going to stutter something unpleasant at her, and Hibiscus _knew_ she could do this.

Willing her arm to raise, she whipped it in a circular arc and pushed her vocal cords to open. "REDUCTOR." Hibiscus shouted. A blast of blue flew from her wand and instantly vaporized the dummy. Unfortunately, the flying orb of blew continued flying and did the same to half of the defense classroom.

Hibiscus did not bother explaining herself to Quirrell; she merely staggered out of the room, leaving Hermione to defend her. The first year girl was in a whirlwind of shock as she stumbled across the halls. She soon decided that she needed to stop. So she entered Moaning Myrtles Bathroom.

Much to her dismay the ghost was not silent when she entered and yelled that the first year girl should have knocked. Simply ignoring the ear splitting specter, Hibiscus went into a stall and slammed the door.

She could not remember how long she was in there. What she could recall however was that the revelation she made in there would change her life.

After Hibiscus had regained her health, somewhat, she had a nagging feeling that she should know what had caused her to become so weak. Then it struck her like lightning. The Nundu egg was closely tied to her magical core, the book had said that when it was ready to hatch the wizard or witch would suffer from some symptoms. Hibiscus quickly pulled the egg from her bottomless purse and looked at it.

The smooth silver surface was pulsing a golden color beneath the surface. Hibiscus could tell that it was about to hatch. Standing, she held it with a careful grip. "SHUT UP." Hibiscus screamed at moaning myrtle, who stopped moaning immediately. Hibiscus set the egg on the floor of the bathroom. Realizing that she did not want anyone to walk in, she snapped out her wand and placed a weak locking charm on the door. Hibiscus had to manage her energy carefully so she would be able to endure the hatching.

The egg began to shake and shudder on the floor. Hibiscus looked over her shoulder, her hair tossing back. "Leave." She commanded. Myrtle quickly fled and flew through a toilet. The first year then returned her attention to the egg. The book had stated that one of the most critical phases of the hatching was when the Nundu laid eyes on a human. If it awoke alone it would grow to be feral and uncontrollable. However, if it awoke with the witch who had hatched it with their magic, it would be tame.

Hibiscus sat in front of the egg and watched the cracks that were ghosting across the surface. Then, a loud crack resounded and the top of the shell caved in. A tiny head popped out. Hibiscus thought it looked like a lion with all of its spots and its tiny mane of fur when she looked at it, then it purred and licked its lips, golden eyes staring into her vibrant green ones.

Lily Potter had had better days. These days she was speaking of did not include waking up nailed to a tree by silver chains, covered in blood and surrounded by people who could definitely not be called her greatest fans. Lucretia Fleming was quite obviously the ring leader of this little get together.

"Fellow followers," the brown haired witch began, "we have found something we have been searching for, for a very long time." She whipped out her wand and flicked a crucio at Lily. Lily did not give them the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"This dirty half breed has eluded us for years. But, no mudblood can withstand our pursuit." Lucretia shouted smugly. Lily pulled back her bloody lips in a snarl, "says the _werewolf_." Lucretia looked at Lily and smiled, "Mud Blood makes an exceptional point, I _am_ a werewolf, however, I am better than her because I chose to follow the Dark Lord, because I took his mark." At this point, the witch pulled back her sleeve and displayed her prominent dark mark, causing all of the dark followers to cheer.

"Now, on to teaching her a lesson she will never forget." Lucretia began, a malicious snarl ripping from her throat. All of the Dark Followers present ripped their wands out, if they were not wizards they watched with glee. Then, they all sent flames at Lily Potter.

"DIE, BURN, YOU VENOMOUS FILTH, YOU HALF MUGGLE HALF SUCCUBUS ABBERATION." Lucretia Fleming shrieked as Lily screamed in agony.

Hours later, after the last flames had smoldered, and the last of the hags and the trolls had left, ashes were picked up and carried through the air. Lily Potter sat amidst what was meant to be her death, naked with glowing red eyes and blood red hair. What Lucretia Fleming did not know was that it was not a simple task to try and kill a succubus, once you started the deed you could not stop until it was done. Hibiscus would have to wait, it was time Lily Potter fought fire with fire.

I am so sorry, I broke my promise from last week, we moved and I lost internet connection. However, everything is stable and I have the next chapter ready! Please review and continue reading.

Chapter Twelve: Oh, which god will I choose this Samhain?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: Oh, which god will I choose this Samhain?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

A month had passed, and Samhain was approaching Hogwarts rapidly. Being practically muggleborn, Hibiscus took lessons from Cedric on wizarding holidays and cultures. Hermione was not interested because wizarding culture lashed out at the foundation of all of her muggle beliefs.

Besides these private lessons with Cedric, Hibiscus was facing an overload of other research and her second year classes. Many problems were facing her daily life. The first of which was that her unicorn was getting too big and would be able to fly soon, her Runespoor scared the girls of the dormitory, and her Nundu was becoming too large to conceal in the empty potions cupboard of the dungeons.

As if this was not bad enough, Quidditch practice was coming up, and she knew that would push her off the teetering pedestal she was presiding on. Currently, Hibiscus sat on the beach of the BlackLake. Relishing the last bits of summer as she pored over books of enchantments.

Hibiscus knew that she had to find something clever to resolve the situation of her pets. However, she had not been having very much luck lately. Briefly stopping and looking at the glimmering lake, Hibiscus decided to take a break and tossed her book to the side. Reclining back down on the beach, Hibiscus looked at the clouds drifting languidly across the sky.

After an hour had passed, Hibiscus was asleep. Just because Hibiscus was asleep however, did not mean other things were.

It was late into the evening when Hibiscus woke up. She expected to see the sand and the BlackLake, but instead she saw the exact opposite. Dirt and trees surrounded her.

Quickly she stood and realized she was in the very depths of the ForbiddenForest. This was impossible, the witch thought to herself. Enchantments had been placed all over to keep students from entering the forest after the horcrux ritual they had performed was mentioned in the Daily Prophet and caused uproar.

She looked around and decided her priority should be to get the bloody Centaur balls out of here. Hugging herself to shield from the biting cold, Hibiscus looked up at the sky and saw the full moon hanging in the sky. That was not a good thing she thought, snapping out her wand. Dark creatures were commonly at their peak on the full moon.

Casting a weak _lumos_ charm, Hibiscus stumbled over fallen branches and dead leaves as she tried to navigate the forest. Giving up, she tried a _point me_ charm and watched as it spun around in hopeless circles. That meant the ministry had made this forest unplottable. She shrieked with rage kicking a branch and listening to the thud.

At this point she did not care if anything heard her. She would probably die anyways at this point. Sitting down she wondered how she was out here. She had never sleepwalked before, and somehow she was exhausted beyond belief though she had been sleeping for hours.

Deciding she was sick of sitting in this bloody forest, Hibiscus thought of spells that could aid her. When that resulted in nothing she decided on telekinesis. Lifting herself up unsteadily, she slowly floated closer to the top of a tree. The little energy she had left was slipping away quickly. She had never used her abilities for levitating herself, and it was draining. When she finally reached the treetop she latched onto a branch and heaved herself up onto it.

Breathing in deep gulps of air at the lack of pressure on her magical core, she looked out towards Hogwarts. The sight brought a smile to her face. It confounded her that the ministry had placed an _unplottable spell_ on the forest but not invisibility barriers around the school.

Now that she knew how to get back Hibiscus threw herself from the tree. Using her telekinesis, she slowed the descent and landed on her feet. Marching in the direction of the castle she marched through the undergrowth and she reached the barriers. Hibiscus was in a pickle however when she reached the shields separating the school grounds from the forest.

At least, she was until she realized that she had brought her extendable purse with her. Reaching inside she found her dagger from Borgin and Burkes that could break enchantments. Pushing it into the invisible wall, Hibiscus carved a door shape that she could slip through.

Then she stowed away her dagger again, muttered _nox _and ran to the castle. Quickly sneaking her way to the Gryffindor Dormitories, she almost had an encounter with Filch. However, Hibiscus used a _tripping jinx_ on him and kept running.

Once she finally reached the Fat Lady, Hibiscus was practically dragging herself in exhaustion. "Hello, dearie," the fat lady said far too cheerfully. "Lolloping gargoyles," Hibiscus sighed. Thankfully the fat lady swung open without any comment.

When she entered the common room the clock read that it was midnight. Then she. As she drifted into unconsciousness, she wondered again how on earth she had ended up in the forbidden forest.

"HIBISCUS," Cedric practically shouted. Hibiscus jumped up from her seat in the library and remembered she was in her lesson with Cedric. "Sorry, it won't happen again." She apologized profusely. The previous night she had barely gotten any sleep because of her dreams. They all started after she woke in the forest a week ago and contained flashing images of a tall, dark haired boy who was very handsome.

The only thing wrong was that he was holding Ravenclaw's diadem in bloody hands. She shook her head and continued listening to Cedric. "Samhain is very different from Halloween; while some aspects are similar it is a time for wizards to consult their deities."

Hibiscus knew all about deities, she had gotten a book on it that very summer. Though it was now considered dark, many old families underwent rituals on Samhain to determine what power beyond was watching out for them. The stronger the witch or wizard, the more deities they were connected to. Cedric continued and told her something she had forgotten. "On Samhain there is less of a boundary between life and death, allowing those who perform the ritual properly to communicate with their deities for guidance."

Hibiscus stood excitedly, "How can I do this ritual?" Cedric stared at her sternly, "You cannot." They stared at each other until he explained. "This is different than the ritual we did to separate the soul from it's horcrux. That was good intentioned," then he glanced away, "the Samhain rituals are all based on selfishness and dark intentions."

Hibiscus glared at him, "I told you about how my sleep walking is getting worse Cedric, and I need answers." The Hufflepuff was resolute as ever. "Don't forget that I warned you, it can be fatal to communicate with deities."

Hibiscus stuffed all of her books into her bag and stormed away. It wasn't that he had been resistant to her doing a dark ritual; it was that she explained that she needed guidance on her… sleepwalking and he said no. Every night this week she woke up to find herself somewhere else. Tears dotted her eyes as she entered the restricted section.

Finally she had given up this Thursday and decided to stop sleeping. It was now Sunday night and she was almost done brewing her Draught of Relentless Energy. The potion was highly illegal because it was so addictive and deadly, but Hibiscus knew she could handle it.

Besides, there was a week till Samhain, and so little time to prepare for a ritual. She knew she could use all of the help she could get, even if it came from an illegal potion. Hibiscus looked up from her thoughts and went down the S aisle. She passed useless information until she saw the book, _Rituals of Samhain Night. _

The week had gone by slowly for Hibiscus Potter. Cedric was still not talking to her, and he had convinced Hermione to do so as well. The Draught of Relentless Energy was completed, thereby enabling her to complete all she needed for the ritual.

The first order of business had been to find a dark, secluded place she could perform the ritual at. Hibiscus had decided on the Nundu cellar in the dungeons. Afterwards she had to put in orders for the supplies that would make her brew.

Most of them were dark though, so she sent her Argurey to the Apothecary in Knockturn Alley with a list. Then Hibiscus had to steal from several teachers. The Runes teacher was easily distracted with a _smoke charm _'someone' set offin the hallway, allowing Hibiscus to steal a ruins knife. Snape was very angry when 'someone' caused four cauldrons melted simultaneously, giving her time to steal a silver cauldron. Then finally, Professor Sprout was knocked out when 'someone' released a baby mandrake, enabling Hibiscus to snag some Bubotuber pods which were expensive and rare elsewhere.

When her Argurey returned she already had the cellar set up for the ritual. The day before Samhain she ran from her Charms class and snuck into the cellar. Checking the contents of the cauldron she saw that the liquid was a burgundy color. Wasting no time she plucked up some Bicorn powder and tossed it in the cauldron. Then she watched as the mixture slowly turned solid brown and smiled. The potion was done.

She pet her Nundu and ran to Transfiguration where they were turning their familiars into goblets. Then when the class ended it was time for dinner. Quickly, Hibiscus let her Argurey through the window and she sprinted to the library. Before she walked through to the entrance, Hibiscus pulled out a bottle containing Draught of Relentless Energy.

Then she rushed in and continued to the restricted section where she looked at incantations until the pinch faced Madame Pince 'escorted' her out. Due to the fact that Hibiscus did not have any reason to go to sleep, she avoided the Gryffindor Corridor. Then she went straight down to the cellar and made sure everything was okay.

After that she sat down with the Nundu which was now the size of a Labrador. The creature pushed it's head into her lap and purred, falling asleep while she stayed wide awake.

Hibiscus disliked this apprehension greatly. Questions and doubts bubbled through her mind at a rapid pace. Would the ritual go right? Was Cedric right? Did she put enough hag flesh into her potion to counter act the undesirable effects of the essence of corrupted unicorn?

This whole ordeal made her want to snap and scream until she was unable to function mentally. However Hibiscus knew she could not lose herself to insanity yet. She had to solve all of the questions that riddled her mind right now, or she could risk giving into nightmares of the boy with black hair and cold eyes.

Shaking herself out of her own dark thoughts, the girl stood, disrupting her Nundu's tranquil sleep yet again. The lion-like creature growled warningly, Hibiscus hissed back in parseltongue until it backed off. Quickly she stretched and checked the supplies yet again. She did not know what time of day it was. The ritual required that she lock herself in a dark room with no light at all. This was some sort of way to prevent anything from weakening the deities.

While she was rearranging the candles yet again thealarm charm she had set rang obnoxiously, causing her to jump and screech. Hurriedly muttering _finite _so it would stop, she pushed her Nundu into a separate storage room attached to the cellar she was in. When it finally slouched through the door sill she closed it and locked it with magic. Turning around she doubled checked that everything was in place. Her candles were in a perfect circle, salt and iron were spread in an unbroken line across the floor on the sides of the walls.

Quickly she stepped into the circle of candles and looked at the page that held the ritual she needed. _Nox_ the girl whispered, her wand light immediately went out and she was surrounded by darkness. If one single thing was wrong she could die, or release any number of things into the castle. Hopefully her salt and iron mixture would be able to prevent the deity from passing through the room.

Pushing away her doubts she began to recite the chant that she had memorized. If she got a single word wrong she could end up trapped up in the circle of candles with something deadly. "Venuient ad me ut ministrant mihi, et quaestiones intimas tenebrasnumen et indica mihi, ut serviamus tibi.''Hibiscus spoke the Latin with her eyes tightly and spoke at least a few more sentences worth of words.

Then the room began to spin, and Hibiscus finished the Latin incantation, extending her wand and lighting the candles one by one. When the room was lit by the candlelight, shadows sprung from nowhere and danced around the walls, twisting suggestively and writhing around one another.

Pacing the ritual out as suggested by the text, she slowly pulled out the runes blade and held out her left palm. Hibiscus sliced it slowly across the soft flesh. Then she pulled the blade away and fisted her hand. Then she held it over a candle flame. She watched as the red blood dripped onto the flame.

The shadows stopped moving abruptly and the candle flames turned a golden silver color. Hibiscus took in a deep breath and waited, this was it, something would happen and the deity would appear. She looked at the floor in front of her. Then she heard the sound of the cauldron making noises behind her as the room temperature dropped behind her.

"Well, aren't you going to look at me girl? Or did I travel all the way from the void beyond for nothing?" The voice was a low pitched hiss. Hibiscus turned around making sure that she did not mess up her circle which was her only defense. Nothing had attacked her, which meant she had done everything right.

"Which deity are you?" Hibiscus asked. The woman was beautiful, which seemed like an understatement to Hibiscus. She stood there bare of any clothes. She would have been completely nude if it wasn't for the python wrapped tightly around her intimate parts.

"Some call me Lilith, many call me the bride of Beelzebub, and others call me mother succubus, mother of snakes, enchantress and many other droll titles." Her eyes began to glint ferociously, "You will soon call me by another name my sweet youngling."

Hibiscus looked at her and thought, she only had until her power ran out, which may take a while and she had lots of questions. "I have many questions, Lilith." The woman gave her a glance as if to dare her to continue. "I have many answers, _youngling_." The deity hissed in response.

Hibiscus swallowed and held her wand tight. "Why do I have nightmares when I sleep? Why do I sleepwalk?" The woman scoffed, "Sleepwalk, you have been possessed by a dark being child." Hibiscus stared at her. This was worse than what she had imagined. "What do I do?" Hibiscus pled desperately.

"This is different from a normal possession, youngling." The woman hissed, "A piece of soul attached itself to you." Hibiscus realized quickly what happened, "The Horcrux." Lilith nodded, "To take it out of you would mean that you would be bonded to the soul, it would be able to talk to you and live just like a normal person," then she smiled, "If it is able to retrieve more pieces of it's soul it will become corporeal."

Hibiscus looked at her and asked, "How do I separate it from my mind?" Then Lilith grinned, it was a feral and evil thing that scared Hibiscus, "You do not youngling, that is where I step in." Hibiscus realized she was trying to get her to open the barrier and shrieked, "No, I will not break the barrier so you can attack me."

"I am not going to harm you, I am going to aid you youngling." Hibiscus snapped her wand out and said, "Never." Then Lilith began walking forwards, her eyes glinting. "This barrier does not matter, I can reach you anyways." Hibiscus smirked, completely sure that her barrier had no flaw and she was safe, "Then why haven't you harmed me yet?"

"I have no reason to," the Succubus smirked, "_Granddaughter."_ Hibiscus looked at her incredulously. "That barrier never offered you protection. You used your blood, which is in turn my blood, to activate it." Hibiscus was frightened but tried not to show it, "I would never believe that we are related, you demon."

"Haven't you always wondered why you find ark magic so alluring, enthralling?" Lilith pondered, "Maybe it is because it is a part of you?" Hibiscus shook her head in disbelief. "The evidence is in your mother's old school trunk, you know youngling, the one you took from Gringrotts, those wards that she placed around it; those were to make sure that no one could discover her dirty secret, that she is the daughter of a dark goddess."

"NO," Hibiscus shrieked, this changed everything she thought she had known about her mother since her arrival in the wizarding world. "The evidence is in the trunk little witchling," her grandmother laughed, "or should I say little succubus?" Hibiscus was in shock, she had read about them this summer, succubae were evil except for minor ones like Veelas, and her mother could _not _be one. But, it could explain why her mother was unable to be tracked down; she was impervious to the tracking methods of the ministry. It could also explain how she had managed to defend herself and Hibiscus from Lord Voldemort.

Hibiscus looked up and saw that Lilith was right in front of her now, the snake wrapped around her body hissing furiously. Then she reached out across the barrier. Gold and silver light blasted across her flesh but eventually stopped allowing her to pass over. That was all Hibiscus needed as proof, Lilith was her grandmother.

"_Protego," _Hibiscus said and watched as Lilith reached right through her hastily casted shield and pushed aside the collar of her shirt, touching her scar that was on her neck. Something dark in the depths of Hibiscus's mind began to shift and struggle as it was yanked through her very core. Then she watched as a black cloud flew away and through the walls.

Lilith pulled her arm away and looked down at her. "The soul is out of your body now, but remember, it will always be attracted to you, and it will be back very soon." Hibiscus had tears in her eyes. The whole extraction had been painful, especially when it came out through her scar. Lilith was standing when Hibiscus decided to begin the banishing ritual, "Absit hoc a me deum, et relinquere in custodia malum prescence." Lilith looked at Hibiscus with fury in her eyes as she was brutally ripped from the room.

The shadows began to leave the wall and the flames blew out. Hibiscus lit her wand and released her Nundu. Then she left the cellar and ran all the way to the Great Hall where dinner was presumably going on.

When she entered she saw all of the candles floating in the air and the jack lanterns that held them. The students were already onto dessert. Scanning the Gryffindor table she looked for Hermione. The bushy haired witch was nowhere to be found. Ignoring the glances sent her way Hibiscus staggered her way to Cedric and groaned, the Draught of Relentless Energy was wearing off.

When she reached him she saw he was with all of his friends. "Cedric, I need to talk to you," Hibiscus said, "Please you were right about everything." He just stared at her while his friends went; ooh Potter needs to talk to you. "No," he said, turning away. Hibiscus glared at him, "Then where is Hermione?" He didn't even look up, "Probably still crying her eyes out in the girl's bathroom because you were too busy to go and talk to her."

She was about to retort back to him when Quirrell busted in and screamed, "TROLLS IN THE DUNGEON, TROLLS IN THE DUNGEON." Hibiscus stared at him as the Great Hall exploded into uproar, something was off, but she was too concerned with something else as Dumbledore boomed out his commands. When everyone began pushing into everyone else Cedric stood. Hibiscus grabbed his arm and looked up at him. "What?" He demanded. "Cedric, someone has to warn Hermione," then she stumbled back dizzily. Quickly she reached into her pocket for the flask of Draught and realized that it was empty, snarling she threw it at the wall. Then she ignored him and began running to the bathroom Hermione was in.

Hibiscus reached it and saw Cedric down the hall trying to catch up. She pushed open the door and saw Hermione slide to the other side of the room like a baseball player just as the ugly troll slammed it's club across all the sinks. Shattering them into tiny shards and causing the pies to explode.

Immediately she whipped out her wand.

Hello, I am so terribly sorry to my faithful readers that I have not updated at all for like two months. I have had terrible writer's block for the first time and it is horrible. On my first try I took the story in a completely different direction then I deleted it because it SUCKED. So I had to restart the entire story I have written so far.

The issue with this part of the story is that I know what I want to happen in the end, I just need to get there first. Also, I know this chapter was probably very boring but a lot of important stuff happened in the plot.

By the way, I know that this is called Hibiscus Potter and the NUNDU, and the Nundu seems sort of insignificant right now but it will become important by the end of this part of the story.

Thank you for reading, _possibly _reviewing and making this story better overall.

Next Chapter: Dabbles With Trolls and A First Practice.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: Dabbles With Trolls and A First Practice.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus shrieked _Rictumsempra _but the spell just bounced off of the troll's flesh. The troll turned away from Hermione and towards Hibiscus. Hibiscus was feeling completely drained, the last few days were finally catching up to her. Before the club struck where she had been standing Hibiscus barely slid between the troll's legs.

Cedric came in just as the club struck the ground. "Use your wand Hermione." Hibiscus shouted. Quickly the other girl whipped it out and all three Hogwarts students had their wands pointed at the troll. They circled it, like predatory wolves on the prowl.

Then, like a snake striking, Hermione muttered an incantation and performed a wand movement, causing the club to burst into flame. Then Cedric struck with a _Relashio _that startled the already frightened troll into dropping it's club. The troll turned towards Cedric and went on a rampage. Hibiscus stared as the troll charged like a bull at the Hufflepuff.

Something tugged in the depths of her soul as she saw the despair across his face. Something so ugly should not mare such a handsome face. Her mind began functioning irrationally like that of a primal animal.

_Mine_, Hibiscus thought, the word resonating throughout her bones. Hermione watched from the other side of the bathroom as her friend changed rapidly, talons extended out of her palms, her skin became luminescent and her features sharper like that of a preying bird.

The girl's golden red hair became even prettier than before as a feral snarl twisted across her face. Then, Hermione watched as she lifted her arms and swung them at the ceiling violently. The troll was lifted off it's feet and bashed into the ceiling.

It seemed as though wherever Hibiscus moved her arms the troll went until it was practically a bloody pulp. Hibiscus began to hiss over and over again. Then the girl seemed to lose the… Power that had possessed her and fell to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Of course this was when the teachers came in and Hermione took the fall for everything while they rushed Hibiscus to the hospital wing.

Hibiscus opened her eyes timidly. Then she hissed like a vampire when the sun blasted into her eyes. Recovery took her at least five minutes and when she opened her eyes again she saw that her friends were on either side of her bed.

Cedric was looking at a book while Hermione was slumped back in her chair with her eyes closed, presumably asleep. Sitting up fully, Hibiscus caused Cedric to startle out of his book and for Hermione to wake up suddenly. "We should get Madame Pomfrey," Cedric said standing.

"No," Hibiscus croaked, "We need to talk about some things first." Slowly Cedric sat down. "First I want to apologize for doing the ritual, you were right Ced-," Hibiscus was cut off by Hermione. "You have no reason to apologize; you saved us from a troll, right Cedric?" The girl asked, causing him to nod.

"What? I stopped the troll, how?" Hibiscus asked croakily. The two just stared at her in surprise. "You really don't remember?" Cedric asked. Hibiscus shook her head. "Well… I don't know how to say this," Hermione started, "You started to, _change, _you had talons." Cedric interjected at this point, "And you were luminescent, you looked like the moon crashed into the sun…" At this point he started to get a glazed look in his eyes.

"Anyways," Hermione interjected giving Cedric a pointed look, "The troll was cornering Cedric, you started hissing like a snake, then you _levitated _the troll with your _hands, _no wand at all." Cedric decided to finish the story, finally out of his glazed over moment. "Then wherever you pointed the troll went. You bashed it into a bloody pulp then passed out," He paused for a breath, "The teachers came in and saw what happened then Hermione took the blame for it all. McGonagall didn't even punish her; she gave fifty points to Gryffindor and twenty five to Hufflepuff."

Hibiscus sat there thinking hard, this just proved that Lilith had been telling the truth. Then she decided that her friends had proved she could trust them. "I haven't told you some things," Hibiscus started and didn't finish. Madame Pomfrey appeared and chastised the two students, kicking them out. Then she turned to Hibiscus. "You are in a lot of trouble young lady," the woman stated, "Using Draught of Relentless Energy. You put yourself in a coma for a week."

"A WEEK!" Hibiscus shouted. "A week," Pomfrey confirmed, "and you can be quite sure that Dumbledore and the Governor's board are reviewing this case with the uttermost scrutiny."

Hibiscus pushed herself out of the bed then wobbled for a moment, steadying herself before the hag could touch her. "Where do you think you are going young lady?" Hibiscus snarled, "That does not concern you." Then she knocked the older woman into the bed and snatched her wand and purse from the side of the bed, promptly fleeing to a girls restroom where she could change into the spare clothes she had.

Her thoughts ran furiously as she performed cleansing spells on herself. What could she do? Her spot in Hogwarts could be jeopardized. Deciding she needed to speak to Dumbledore she realized she needed to get the password from McGonagall and raced to her classroom hurriedly.

People stared at her as she passed, gawking and pointing obnoxiously. Finally she made it passed the ever moving stairs and to the Transfiguration classroom. Knocking on the door she waited to be told to enter. "Come in," McGonagall said with her ever stern voice. Hibiscus stepped in and looked at the professor do a double take. "Miss Potter, you should be in the Hospital Wing." Hibiscus seethed internally, "I feel fine and Pomfrey made it clear that my position at Hogwarts was in a precarious position."

McGonagall looked at her with an understanding look, "All is fine, Hibiscus, Professor Dumbledore had a _very _long meeting and cleared everything up with the board." Hibiscus stared at her then sighed in relief, slumping into a nearby chair.

"Now what you should be worried about is making it to the Quidditch practice that is this morning." Hibiscus looked up in shock. "But I don't have a broom or uniform yet." The professor reached under her desk and _surprisingly _brought out a broom and uniform. "You do now."

Hibiscus blushed and had to go to the bathroom and change again then run out to the Quidditch pitch with her Nimbus Two-Thousand in her hand. She did not care if people from the opposing teams knew she was the Gryffindor Seeker. She didn't want to do Quidditch in the first place.

When she arrived, Wood flew to the ground and started to shout that she had ruined everything and was a stupid first year while the team watched in shock. Hibiscus watched as he continued to berate her for her 'idiocy' then finally had enough.

She whipped her wand out of her pockets and hexed him. As he suffered from the _Bat bogey hex _she explained what he would and would not do while she was on his team. Then she released him from the hex and smiled sarcastically, "What are we doing for practice today? Captain!" This caused the whole team to laugh uproariously.

Wood made them all do conditioning for almost all of the practice after what transpired, then he set them to work on flying. Hibiscus met a nice girl named Angelina Johnson who explained everything to the befuddled Hibiscus.

After Hibiscus finally had all of her dives down, Angelina brought up the match. "Are you ready for the match on Friday?" She asked. Hibiscus was very shocked that it was so soon and worked even harder until it was time to leave.

Then she went to the locker rooms, changed and promptly rushed to her Charms class where they learned the _Avis _charm. Professor Flitwick seemed to be very pleased that Hibiscus was actively participating in his class again. For the first time in a while Hermione talked to her and Hibiscus could worry about trivial things.

This was just the surface though. Beneath her exterior Hibiscus was still facing inner turmoil. The horcrux spirit was still out there and she had yet to open her mother's trunk.

As she walked to her Potions class, Hibiscus snuck away from Hermione to feed her Nundu scraps of her lunch. It purred and licked her hand as she smiled and stroked it's fur. Then she ran to her class at full sprint, making it just in time.

She slipped in next to Hermione just as Snape walked in. "Tut, tut, Miss Potter decided to _grace _us with her prescence." The Slytherins began snickering as Snape took forty points from her for being a shameful fame seeker. Hibiscus ignored him until he limped passed her.

"Wow, what happened Professor?" She asked innocently, looking pointedly at his leg. His face turned red, "That is another forty points, Potter." Then he went to the front of the class and demanded that they all produce perfect Shiver Inducing Solution.

As always, Hibiscus and Hermione brewed perfect potions. As always, Snape awarded the points to the Slytherins. As always, he took away forty more points from Hibiscus for standing up and stating everything that was wrong with Malfoy's potion.

Then, unlike every other time she went back to his class. "I can't believe that insufferable prat-," Hermione began, and then Hibiscus groaned. "I left my satchel in his class," then she sighed, "Just go ahead to defense and I will be there later." Hibiscus hesitantly walked down the stairs.

She finally reached the door and heard something. It was as though Snape was _talking _to himself. "How are you supposed to watch all three heads at once?" Then he hissed in pain, "Blasted Cerberus, blasted Nicholas Flamel and his ruddy stone."

Hibiscus realized he was talking about the monster in the third floor. Hibiscus pushed the door open and saw Snape looking up, his pants leg revealed, showing off the horrendous bite. It was partially covered in a green salve.

Before he could begin to deduct points Hibiscus lunged for her bag and ran all the way to Defense. The students were already practicing the jinx they had been assigned and Quirrell got a malicious look in his eyes as he saw her enter. Ignoring him she moved to Hermione and quickly told her of what she had seen. "Then he must have been trying to get at this 'stone' Nicholas Flamel owns."

Hibiscus sighed, "Why would he try to get at it? He called it a 'ruddy' stone." Then both girls jumped into each other when Quirrell appeared from nowhere, "A s-s-stone e-eh, f-f-oc-u-ss on your cl-asswork." Hibiscus was always unsettled by the glint in his eyes that conflicted starkly with his inept stuttering. "B-by t-t-the –w-way P-P-Pott-er, twe-twenty points fo- for being –l-late t-to cla- class." The girl scoffed, that wasn't half as many as Snape took every class.

When they were leaving Hibiscus parted with Hermione and walked into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "GET OUT!" The ghost shrieked. Hibiscus locked the door and ignored her until she fled down a toilet. Then the young witch pulled her purse out of her satchel and reached through it until she found her mother's shrunken trunk.

"_Engorio," _the trunk up to it's original size and Hibiscus sat on her knees in front of it. Her hope was that Lilith had unlocked the trunk for her somehow. Then she reached for the latch and pulled.

The battle was ferocious. Nymphs from all corners of the forest poured down upon the Forces of Lord Voldemort. Water nymphs, dryads, they all united as one force against the dark army under the guidance of Lily Potter.

Nothing was stable; the dirt moved and shifted knocking Hags into each other and sometimes swallowing them. The river nymphs brought the entire AlbanianRiver down upon the foes as the trees came to life and beat the enemy to bloody pulps.

Lily Potter moved lithely, dancing almost as she slashed and sliced the throats of her enemies. She stopped for a moment and looked forwards; Lucretia Fleming was sending more forces to keep control of the river. The water nymphs continued to spear the kappas, mermaids, grindylows and all manner of other things.

Lily thought of what she could do, before the fire her wand had been snapped, only her succubae magic was available. Allurement only worked on humans and all of the beings present were non human. Bloodlust put her in such a state that she could even kill the nymphs who were her unsteady allies, and Lily had barely gotten them to battle at all.

The only thing she could think of was Elementalisim. She hated it though, her mother was able to get in her head and speak to her. However, if she lost the river all of these beasts would continue on to Hogwarts, right under Dumbledore's and the ministry's noses.

She chose the lesser of two evils. Her hands grew bright with flame as her eyes rolled back into her head. The earth shook even more and whirlpools formed in the water. Then the air whipped fiercely.

_"__Well, daughter, you have come to me." _Her mother began. Lily ignored her while she decimated the opposing forces_. "The funniest thing happened the other day." _Lily still ignored her, knowing she would probably slice her with her words yet again. "_My granddaughter spoke with me."_ All Lily could do was bask in shock. "_Yes little Lily, your daughter has received the family traits. A powerful witch and promising succubae," _Lilith just laughed, hissing just like a snake, "_I am quite disappointed in her for banishing me after I helped her though, the next time I see her she will learn to obey me." _

Lily was unable to respond due to the copious amounts of energy she was using. When she had finally ensured that the river was safe she ripped away from the connection back to the battle. Her little Hibiscus had summoned Lilith. She was coming into her powers all alone with no guidance. Lily slashed even harder and even more ferociously. Getting to her daughter was her top priority after taking down this army she had been pursuing for more than a decade.

Hags crumbled beneath her fangs and talons. Werewolves squealed and vampires crumbled to ash. Now using her feet she launched fatal kicks at snake men and inferi.

Lucretia Fleming screamed, "RETREAT," before they had even lost the river. She knew it was a hopeless battle if Lily Potter was still alive and fighting. The witch looked different, as she decapitated the Dark Lord's army, four by four at a time.

Her hair was redder than blood, flesh as white as snow and her eyes were an even deeper red than her hair. The most disturbing changes were her fangs and claws. Lucretia watched as they sliced down her loyal followers.

Then she shouted for a retreat again. Luckily she had planned a safe spot to flee to where all of the followers would meet back up. Lucretia watched as some of her followers apparated, due to the fact that they were werewolves they had the ability to, while the vampires turned into bats and flew away and the others hobbled as best as they could into the forest.

As though Lily Potter could sense the baleful stare directed towards her person, she looked up at Lucretia Fleming. Then she grinned, her fangs bloodier than a massacre. While Lucretia spun like a whirlpool, Lily Potter grabbed a hag's throat and twisted. Then it popped off with no resistance.

Lucretia cracked into existence at a hill. The Albanian forest was at least a mile away. "You!" She snarled at a young vampire. "Yes madam?" He asked meekly. "Send a letter to our Dark Lord with my owl; tell him that we will be there by the beginning of summer instead of New Years Eve."

So, did you like it, did you hate it? Review so that I can improve my writing skills and you can continue to enjoy my story! Also, some of you may be a bit confused as to why Voldemort has an army in the making. I always felt that it was odd that he would spend fifty plus years creating an army of dark wizards and creatures then give it all up because he turned into a creepy toddler. So please bear with me, all will make sense in the long run.

Next Chapter: Snakes in the Air and a Blooming Succubus.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Snakes in the Air and a Blooming Succubus.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Cedric, Hermione and Hibiscus sat together in the Hogwarts library. At that moment their heads were pushed over a book. Then Hibiscus sat back with a flop and groaned. "I cannot do this anymore."

"If we haven't found it yet we never will…" Cedric agreed, flopping back as well. Hermione stood. "We just need to find a way to sneak into the restricted section you two." They looked at her as though she was bonkers to suggest any of them would ever get in there.

After the board meeting in which Dumbledore had to defend the incidents with Hibiscus, he had apparently told Madame Pince-face to bar them from the restricted section. If Nicholas Flamel was nowhere to be found by now, they would never find him.

"Hermione, I am a bit more concerned about my match with Slytherin." Hibiscus reminded in a quiet voice. "We all know you are going to do brilliantly, so stop working yourself into this tizzy." Hermione said with a cutting tone. "If neither of you are worried about Snape trying to steal something from Dumbledore then I will find out myself."

The two friends watched as the bushy haired witch slammed the book shut and strode away with it. Madame Pince looked at them with a baleful glance and waggling finger gesture. "If anyone is going to beat Lucifer away from that old woman's soul one day, it will be me." Cedric whispered.

Hibiscus was too stressed to laugh and she said her goodbyes before she fled to Quidditch practice, leaving Cedric to his research for charms. Stopping only at the locker room to snatch her broom and put on her robes, Hibiscus arrived just in time. "Today we are going to be honing our skills for the match tomorrow." Wood shouted. Hibiscus smiled, no conditioning. "Then we will do conditioning towards the end of practice." Wood added as an after thought. The entire team groaned.

Then for the rest of practice Hibiscus worked on dives until they had to do conditioning. When it was finally time for dinner she ran in and sat next to Cedric at the Hufflepuff table as usual. Cedric and his friends always put in a lot of funny jokes to the conversations. Then she walked with him until they separated to go to their common rooms. "Good night Hibiscus, off to bed." The Hufflepuff said. She gave him a response of affirmation.

Contrary to what she had told him however, Hibiscus was not going to her common room. Instead she was going to the cellar in the dungeons. When she opened the door she hastily shut and locked it magically using all of the magical enchantments for locks she knew.

A _Permanent Light Charm_ hung on the ceiling. Her Unicorn and Runespoor slithered around her Nundu playfully. Hibiscus had moved them down here as well to avoid the issues with them living up in her old cramped living quarters.

Then she looked at the book shelf she had stolen from another unused room in the dungeons that now held her books on dark magic. Looking to the corner of the room she waved her wand and muttered the counter-charm to her enchantment that concealed her mother's trunk.

Walking over to it she reached in and looked around. Last Monday she had lost her courage to look inside. Since then she had come to terms with _what _she suspected she was and now needed answers.

There was no dust when she cracked it open or any sort of disorganization when she looked inside. All she could see were books all across the bottom. The only issue was that the titles were not exactly what she was looking for, _How Find a Familiar Kitten, _or _My Herbology Guide. _Then Hibiscus smiled, her mother had been clever.

Whipping her wand and then flicking it towards the books, Hibiscus muttered _"__Finite Incantatum." _The titles changed rapidly showing Hibiscus her mother's more…dark reading material. _Succubae Magic: Volume One. _This book seemed to be part of a series with eight handwritten volumes.

Opening the cover to the table of contents Hibiscus looked at the chapters listed. They were all odd names. Allure, Dread, Focus, etc. The preface was even odder Hibiscus decided as she read it aloud to her Runespoor in snake language.

"_Succubae magic is truly an ancient art, almost as ancient as witchcraft and wizardry. After the mother of succubae, Lilith was banished to hell she spread her teachings across the world. Many referred to it as black magic, others called it an art. _

_When Lilith was shunned by the witches and wizards she formed her own society and her own species. She slept with the devil king Beelzebub, then she birthed her children from him, the other demon queens helped her in her quest to create this new species as well. Men called them diabolic temptresses; women named them man eaters while children called them snake speakers. Unbeknownst to these people the succubae wielded power beyond any other. _

_When the first great Ministry arose from the ashes of the last wizarding empire of Rome, they extended their control as far as they could until they reached passed the Mediterranean to the territory of the succubae. The muggles of the area were in constant fear of the succubae and the wizards that had previously inhabited the land were long exterminated. _

_The ministry of Christendom had never faced anything like the succubae. Raw power and dark magic were combined by the creatures to ensure invincibility. The wizards were no match and not a single one returned home. The ministry sent even more wizards over until the succubae were overwhelmed. _

_When the powerful Merlin came into power he ended the siege by banishing the deity Lilith to another world in a vicious and extraordinary battle. The succubae were weakened, yet the loss of their ruler only encouraged them to reclaim their lands. Through the use of the succubae talent Corruption they corrupted Merlin's greatest pupil Morgana, a famous witch who was captured in a battle and bestowed upon her some of the secrets of their magic. _

_She raised a mutiny against the ministry, leading to a ferocious battle that lasted until her death in the late tenth century. This caused the threat of the succubae to be forgotten until four centuries later in the early thirteen hundreds. When Emeric the Evil opposed the newly established Ministry of Spain he recruited the succubae to his aid and waged a bloody battle against the weakly established ministry. _

_The Christendom ministry pushed across the army and launched a fatal blow to the succubae when they destroyed the demon Meridiana who was the leader in the stead of Lilith over the Succubae army at that era. The weakened species went into hiding along with their mates the incubuses and have not been seen by the wizarding world again. However it is greatly speculated that they are still out there due to their being one of many immortal species, simply biding their time to launch an attack on the wizarding world. _

_Succubae magic is divided into three different powerful classes, much like those of charms, jinxes, curses and hexes used by wizards. They fall under three main categories including mental, physical and spiritual. These represent all of the apparatus in which the succubae can utilize their magic on themselves and others."_

The preface then ended and Hibiscus skipped forward to where the book spoke of how the first category that succubae taught themselves fell under self physical magic. This meant that they practiced magic on themselves.

Focus was the first ability recommended and Hibiscus began to try it. Apparently she was supposed to put her attention on one sense and all of the others would fade away until that one sense she focused on was predominant and strengthened.

Regulating her breathing Hibiscus sat cross legged and focused on her hearing. It was working she realized as her other senses went down in quality. Then that one thought ruined it all and the process stopped. Standing up and leaving each of her pets some jerky she locked the door and stomped to her dorm where she stayed the rest of the night.

The air was clear, as Hibiscus breathed deeply on the Quidditch pitch. Wood was shaking hands with Flint, which symbolized the beginning of the match. "One, two, three." Then the whistle blew sharply. Suddenly her broom twitched and the girl looked at it surprised.

When the girl kicked off the ground she noticed her broom wobbling uncharacteristically, almost as if it was a bull and it wanted to throw her off. Then it stopped and the girl flew up in the air until she stopped. Hibiscus stared at the match below her. Then she started listening to Lee Jordan's announcements.

"THE CHASERS GET TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR! THAT WAS ALL THANKS TO THE VRY FINE AND MAY I SAYATTRACTIVE CHASER ANGELINA J-OUCH!" Professor McGonagall had swatted him across the back of his head.

Hibiscus smirked and continued to look for the snitch when the quaffle flew right into her open arms. Not even hesitating Hibiscus rushed toward the Slytherin goal and scored, going through the post four times in a row before anyone could do anything. "TWENTY POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!" Hibiscus grinned then tossed it to Katie Bell.

Hibiscus went back up in the sky and swore she saw the glint of gold above Marcus Flint's head right when her broom began jerking. When she was swung off of it and she barely caught the handle she realized someone was jinxing her broom.

"Bloody 'ell. Her broom's actin' up…" Hagrid said. Hermione was surprised she had even shown up to the game after the spat. But Hibiscus was her best friend and she knew deep down she should support her. Now Hermione sat in the Gryffindor stands with Hagrid as she watched a broom try to kill her friend.

Then Hermione recognized what was happening. Someone was jinxing the broom, but who would do that? It would have to be someone who hated Hibiscus and wanted her gone. When her eyes drifted to Snape muttering and making unblinking eye contact she knew what she had to do.

Running through the stands Hermione made her way to the teachers stand and pulled herself behind the wooden bleachers to where Snape was sitting. Pointing her wand at Snape's cloak, Hermione muttered _"__Incendio." _With a flourish of her wand Hermione caused his robes to jump into a full flame.

When the bushy haired girl made it back she looked at the other stand and saw Quirrell was shouting in fear while Snape was doing a funny dance. Then she noticed Hibiscus was back on her broom.

Hibiscus was amazed when her broom stopped dancing midair. However the girl was not one to stare a gift in the eye so she took it. Heaving herself up onto the broom she caused the crowd to cheer.

The snitch was long gone and the match was almost at time with the Slytherins in the lead. Hibiscus Potter was not going to allow those Slytherins to win. She did not understand how they could cheat, assault her (Draco Malfoy) and jinx an eleven year old girl's broom. Hibiscus did something in that moment that was very unsportsmanlike; she reached out and attempted Focus.

Her eyes narrowed in concentration and she felt her other senses lessen as she focused on increasing the power of her vision. Then finally it worked and she looked around the field. Immediately she spotted the gold snitch high in the air.

Cancelling her Focus Hibiscus pushed her self upwards on her broom like a corkscrew. The other seeker, Higgins, followed hot on her tail. He caught up to her just as she approached the snitch, knocking into her violently he reached for the snitch and caused it to fall in an immediate dive.

Hibiscus pulled herself down after it with Higgins reluctantly following. Then she watched as they grew closer to the ground until he violently pulled back. Smirking so widely it hurt her face Hibiscus resisted the temptation to pull it to her using telekinesis and pulled out of her dive.

She stood on her broom and reached for it until she crashed to the ground. Standing from where she was sprawled she extended her palm out dramatically and revealed the flash of gold. Instantly all four houses stood, the Slytherins hissed in defeat while the others roared in victory. "HIBISCUS POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH!THREE HUNDRED POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR! NOW ANJELINA, WE HAVE A LOT TO DISCUSS, COME HE-OWWW." The professor had swiped the back of his neck rather viciously. "SORRY FOLKS, GRYFFINDOR WINS!"

The match was long over and Hibiscus was with Cedric and Hermione, who had right after the match asked for forgiveness for flipping out on them. The three were walking with Hagrid who was cheering about how well Hibiscus had done. "She would have done great if Snape hadn't jinxed her broom," Cedric muttered darkly. The girls had told him after the match.

"He 'id not!" Hagrid snapped. Then Hibiscus scowled and got angry. "Of course he did Hagrid. He wants me out of the way because I heard him muttering about stealing the sorcerer's stone and how the three headed dog bit him."

Hagrid stopped and said, "Fluffy wouldn 'urt a fly." The three stared at him shocked until Cedric spoke up, "Fluffy? That monster has a name." Hagrid looked down and turned towards his hut muttering that he shouldn't have said that. They chased him to his door until he turned around and growled, "What Fluffy is guardin is none 'o your threes business and only involves Nicholas Flamel an' Dumbledore." Then he slammed the door on them.

"Great," Hibiscus groaned as the trio walked back up the hill, "Now he hates us and we don't have any more clues about what this 'stone' is." Hermione sighed sarcastically, "Maybe if you were willing to break into the restricted section for me…"

"At this point, Hermione, I am willing to do anything to get rid of Snape." Cedric said.

Lord Voldemort stared at the letter in front of him with vehemence. First, he fails to murder that little Potter brat and now this. "Punish yourself," he hissed into the mind of Quirrell. The man screamed as he placed himself under the _cruciatus curse _once again. "Stop," the Dark Lord whispered, "Read the letter to me once more."

Quirrell stood shakily and recited the letter. "My Dark Lord, I am very displeased to admit that my trek through the Albanian forest as you advised has come to an end. Lily Potter is still alive and proves to be an even bigger problem than ever." The man paused for a shallow, hasty breath. "I should have listened to you more carefully my lord. I will gather more dark creatures and restore the army. Rest assured I have many contacts and can achieve this easily. We will then march through to the Hogwarts and position some of our followers at the Ministry in preparation for your return to power."

The man paused, "Lily Potter will be unable to follow us through populated territory where people will recognize her. The only drawbacks to this are that we draw more attention to ourselves from the ministry and public and we will arrive later than you expected of us, your ever suppliant servant, Lucretia Fleming."

"That foolish woman, the entire plan could fall apart now." The face on Quirrell's head snarled. "Punish yourself again." The night went by with the castle sleeping deeply, no one hearing the silenced screams and moans of Quirrius Quirrell.

Hello, faithful readers. I hope it has not been too long since I last updated. Tom Riddle is going to show up very soon, cross my heart and hope to die. I just don't want to say when because it would spoil the suspense.

Please review and tell me what you think! Or you can just keep reading and putting the story as a favorite and follow it.

Next Chapter: The Most Handsome Men Live in The Restricted Section and The Mirror of Erised.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: The Most Handsome Men Live in The Restricted Section and The Mirror of Erised.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

It was Christmas day, and Hibiscus was all alone. Cedric and Hermione had gone home to their families while she was stuck at Hogwarts. This was not a bad thing however.

She had an entire empty dormitory which she could practice her succubae magic in. The girl also had the chance to sneak into the restricted section now that there were fewer students. Pulling herself out of bed she stood and flicked her wand, saying the incantation, "_Vestimentum tuum officium."_

Instantly Hibiscus's robes billowed and danced to her bed where they folded themselves in a tidy pile. She then went to the bathroom where she showered herself until she felt refreshed. Stepping up to the bed she muttered a _Drying charm_ and then put on her clothes carefully.

She walked down the stairs and saw a Christmas tree. Then she saw a huge pile of presents with a label holding her name on it. She was about to open it all there and then when Ronald Weasley entered the room and began to stare at her. That was her final straw.

"Why do you have to keep on staring at me you freak?" Hibiscus demanded. The red head just smiled creepily and walked out of the portrait hole. She shivered and decided to go somewhere else to open her presents.

"_Wingardium Leviosa," _Her large pile of presents levitated in the air and out the portrait as she directed them. The young witch walked up to the library, then she decided she did not want to open her presents there. Walking up the hallway she spotted a random door and opened it.

Standing in the middle of the doorway she saw a mirror. She dropped her presents gently and walked over to it after shutting the door. Hibiscus looked at the arch of the mirror curiously, her head tilting thoughtfully. Gibberish appeared to be inscribed in the ornate gold. "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."

Hibiscus did not see the point in someone making such a detailed mirror then putting gibberish on it. There had to be something to these words. Looking carefully at the word Erised she realized that it was desire backwards. Then she looked at all of the other words and decided it was all written backwards.

When she rearranged it she spoke aloud, "I show not your face but your heart's desire." Then she looked in the mirror itself and she did not see her face. When ten seconds had passed it suddenly changed. Hibiscus saw herself, a powerful and respected witch. The Dursleys stood beneath a pedestal upon which she stood. Then she saw her parents, their faces exactly the same as a picture she had found of them in a wizarding book, staring down at her with proud expressions, a head girl badge pinned to her chest.

Another body began to materialize next to her in the mirror. As the person came into existence she realized that she was holding his hand. Then just before his face was visible in the mirror a hand appeared from nowhere and snatched her away, pulling her off the pedestal.

Hibiscus was slammed full force back into reality and her gaze was whipped away from the mirror. The girl's golden-red hair flew back in the air until it stopped at her shoulders. Hibiscus had stumbled back a few steps until she steadied herself and sat down facing away from the mirror.

The second year was in shock. Her mind had been trapped in that mirror, but she had enjoyed it. Those were the things Hibiscus wanted the most in this world. Then it felt like something had smacked her out of the trance.

Quickly so that she would not have to think about the mirror anymore she opened her presents. Candy from a random admirer, candy from a random admirer, candy from another random admirer. This went on until all Hibiscus had left were presents from her friends.

First she opened her present from Hermione which turned out to be even more chocolate frogs. Sighing sadly Hibiscus pushed it to the side and turned to Cedric's present. She unwrapped the paper and pulled it out. The first year stared at it with a look of confusion. Was that Banshee hair silk?

Cedric had sent her a dress that Hibiscus found to be very pretty. It was a deep scarlet blue, woven from banshee hair, which was obviously a unique fabric since any random banshee was totally willing to part with it's hair. Then she noticed how flimsy the small sleeves were and the calve length of the dress.

Smiling she recalled that Cedric's parents had taken him on a vacation to Tibet where Banshees were a common occurrence. Deciding to write him her thanks later she put it to the side and saw the last package was a plain brown parcel.

Picking it up she felt fabric within. When she ripped it open it was a shimmering cloth that was composed of different colors. Then she pulled it free and stood, realizing it was a cloak. Then something very peculiar happened just as a note fluttered out of the shimmering fabric.

The cloak passed over her body and disappeared. "An invisibility cloak!" Hibiscus said in exultation. Then she picked up the note,

"_Miss Potter, _

_This was your father's before he passed away. It is time for you to make a use of it. _

Hibiscus smirked; she would make use of it, to get into the restricted section that very evening.

Hibiscus left the great hall hurriedly then stopped in a corner after making sure no one was around. Then she whipped out her invisibility cloak and covered herself in it and ran all the way to the library. When she approached the opened doors she tiptoed slowly passed Madame Pince. The woman had the eyes and ears of a hawk.

After she made it passed the desk she walked briskly to the restricted section door and muttered a quick, "_Alohamora," _on the lock. When it clicked she made sure that Pince was not watching and stepped in as fast as she could. Then Hibiscus shut the door and put a locking charm back in place.

The second year student breathed in the air of the forbidden books with relish. So few had read them and she was once again one of those few. Stepping passed the shelves her shoes clicked on the marble floor. Inwardly Hibiscus cursed herself for never following through with finding the incantation to the _Foot Silencing charm. _

When she finally made it to the F section she walked down the aisle and started running her eyes over the spines. Then she found what she had been looking for over an entire month. _Immortality through Alchemy: Nicholas Flamel. _Hibiscus grinned and started to pull it out of the shelf when a hand landed on her shoulder.

The girl held in her scream that she longed release and dropped her wand light. Hibiscus dropped to a crouch and held her wand pointed at the person. Then she gripped her wand tighter and slowly shifted away. It was _him. _

The boy from the dreams she had when she was possessed. The same dark, tousled hair and the same perfect smile. He even had the same cold eyes that held no emotion or care for life whatsoever.

"Hello Hibiscus Potter." He said with a crisp and scrupulous voice. Then he extended his palm showing off his perfectly squared fingernails. "Forgive me Miss Potter, it is just so…_Nice _to see you in the flesh and blood." At the word nice he smiled nastily at Hibiscus and she shivered.

"What do you want?" She demanded. He smirked darkly at her. "I want to thank you for releasing me from Ravenclaw's diadem." Hibiscus felt as though he had more coming. "It would also please me very much if you helped me in my pursuit to become whole again…" He paused as though he was asking.

"We both know what my answer is." Hibiscus replied firmly, she would not find this psycho's other horcruxes. "It must be so much fun in Tibet this time of year. The snow is accumulating so rapidly. Say what if your friend Cedric was swallowed in an avalanche?" Hibiscus shook with rage; he was pulling a negotiation with her? "I can tell Dumbledore everything…" She left off knowing he got the message.

"Then there is your dear friend Hermione, am I mistaken or did she go skiing in the Alps this winter with her _muggle _parents?" Hibiscus wanted to punch the wicked grin off of his smug face. "Did you hear me? I will tell Dumbledore!" Hibiscus nearly shouted.

"Oh, the old fool," the boy said with a condescending tone, "I went and, observed, him. He seems to be very troubled by problems you caused him." Hibiscus would have rolled her eyes if her friend's lives were not in terrible danger. "So, Professor Dumbledore will help me wipe your repulsive face off the planet."

"What makes you so certain he will believe you in the first place? When you tell him you messed with dark magic he will believe it affected your state of mind, especially when you can't even tell him what my name is." The boy said with an air of certainty. Hibiscus was thinking it over when the boy smiled and said, "Besides, I can kill both your friends before you make it to his office."

Hibiscus looked down in self-disgust, she had lost. "What do you want?" The boy did not even blink, "I want you to pack your bags, we are going on a trip for winter break, Potter."

I hope you all understand everything that is going on in the story right now, please review and follow this story!

Next Chapter: What the Winter Gave Me and Answers Written in Chocolate Frogs.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen: What the Winter Gave Me and Answers Written in Chocolate Frogs.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus Potter sat in the Hogwarts Express reading a book. This was not the usual reading material however. This was a book on succubae magic. She turned each page, consumed by the words.

Winter break had been quite a drag; the second year even had the scars to prove it. Distantly she recalled waves pounding on to rocks and unspeakable horrors within a cave. Then there were the numerous hours of mind numbingly painful battles she waged to keep control of her mind. Quickly she shook her head to ease her mental turmoil and suffering.

Then she turned back to her book and read about Control. The book claimed that it was one of the most difficult skills for developing succubae to master. Then she had to pause and hiss at her pets to keep them quiet. Her Runespoor was slithering free in her compartment along with her Argurey. Before she had left, Hibiscus had found Hagrid with a dragon egg and decided her best chance was to blackmail him.

He would watch her pets, including her Nundu while she went away for business. He had even promised to prepare her winged unicorn for flight lessons. But what else could he do, she was practically telling him she would report him to Dumbledore. It made her sick to do it though, _Tom_ made her, he said he would be waiting in the Alps and he would know if she did not get Hagrid to watch her pets.

Hibiscus shivered, she could not bear to think of _him_. She even spoke the monster's _name_. Shaking herself out of this trance she continued reading to herself until she found what was preventing her from performing Control.

_"__One must impose their magical cores on others. They must feel powerful and indomitable. Even a single instance from the past in which they felt powerless can ruin this process." _

When the train finally stopped she caged her pets and stepped onto the platform. Her wand was buried deep in her messenger bag; she had no need for it however. Her succubae magic had blossomed over her winter break. If it hadn't she probably would not even be standing on this platform now. Shivering yet again she shook that thought away, she was safe now.

When Hibiscus had almost made it to the horseless carriages she stopped short. If they were horseless why was she seeing a bony, grey horse with skeletal wings and glowing eyes pulling them. Then she recognized what she was seeing from a book by Newt Scamander she had read. The thestrals were creatures that could only be seen by someone who had experienced death firsthand. Hibiscus had definitely witnessed death.

Pulling herself up she ignored the Weasley family who she was unfortunately forced to sit with and pulled herself back into her book.

"_To throw away these past feelings that hold you back from casting Control are part of an initiation process for succubae. This symbolizes that one is willing to relinquish their sense of morals and are prepared to victimize another living being." _

The carriage stopped and Hibiscus pulled herself out, resisting the urge to hex the gawking Ron Weasley off the carriage. She stumbled up to the main courtyard from the viaduct and made sure she did not see Cedric and Hermione.

Hibiscus was terrified they would see how she had changed. This path she had taken to increase her magical capabilities in order to defend herself and her friends from _him, _had taken a physical and mental change on her.

Hibiscus pushed passed people who stopped and stared at her. They asked questions such as, 'could that be?' or, 'impossible,' and her favorite, 'woo, she grew up over the holidays…' Then she finally arrived at the courtyard and began walking up the steps into the castle when she saw Marcus Flint and his little wannabe first year Slytherins including Malfoy. Just the sight of them enraged her. What she saw them doing however injected a cold blooded fury in her veins that could not be quelled.

Luna Lovegood or Looney as her bullies called her was pounded into the wall face first by Crabbe. Marcus Flint, who was a Slytherin prefect did nothing but stand there and guffaw at Luna's unmoving body. Hibiscus snarled and slammed her clenched fist at Crabbe. She did not wait to watch as his fat body was shoved at full speed into the wall. Nor did she wait to see what the loud crunch she heard was the result of.

Then she flipped her hand and depansed all of the other first year Slytherins. They tried desperately to pick up their pants which she held to the ground with the aid of her telekinesis. As a grand finale she yanked down their underwear much to the enjoyment of the crowd around them.

Marcus Flint was trying to slink away like the slime he was just as the professors arrived and she would not allow it. Walking up to him she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and was shocked for the same reason the school had whispered when they saw her. "What happened to your face mudblood-?" Hibiscus stared at him blankly, he had no idea what was about to happen.

Cutting him off she look straight in his eyes and felt for his core. It was as though she was using Focus, but instead of looking more closely at her surroundings she was looking in his soul. His aura blossomed in her eyes and made her want to gag. It was a weak and black shroud that could have repulsed the Devil himself.

Then she felt hers, powerful, beautiful and blinding. The color of freshly smelted gold and silver. Finally she spoke, overpowering his aura completely. "_DO AS I SAY." _Flint nodded solemnly, leaning in conspiratorially. Her voice sounded as though it was submerged underwater. "_YOU ARE GOING TO APPROACH PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE IN FRONT EVERYONE DURING HIS SPEECH TONIGHT. YOU WILL TURN YOURSELF AND CRABBE IN FOR WHAT YOU DID TO LUNA. THEN YOU WILL HAND HIM YOUR PREFECT BADGE, SAY YOU AREN'T WORTHY OF THIS HONOR AND THEN PROFESS YOUR IMMENSE SEXUAL DESIRE FOR HIM. YOU WILL DO A STRIPDANCE AND WHEN YOU ARE NAKED YOU WILL GIVE PROFESSORS FLITWICK AND SNAPE LAP DANCES. UNDERSTOOD?" _The boy nodded, then she snapped her fingers in his face and he broke from his trance. "What are you doing so close to me…? Mudblood!" He demanded. Hibiscus just smirked and walked away. He had no idea.

The final paragraph came to her mind. "_To exert your dominance over another living being is one of the darkest arts ever practiced. One must be desensitized to humanity and justice. Only one of the darkest hearts can successfully complete Control. _

Hibiscus watched Marcus Flint. Of course she believed in justice.

Hibiscus walked up to the middle of the Gryffindor table and waited. Finally, she saw Hermione and Cedric walk up together. Sucking in several deep breaths she put on a smile, which promptly fell when they walked right passed her. Then Cedric looked to the side and stopped.

He tapped Hermione's shoulder and they moved over to her slowly. "Wow, y-you look… Different?" Hermione said confusedly. Cedric just stared at her with a dropped jaw. They were right, just like every single other student. She had changed; Hibiscus saw that every time she looked in a mirror.

She had more angular features as though she was a bird. She had gotten taller and had spindly legs now, even though she was only eleven. Her hair had lost all of its red streaks and looked like shining gold spun by Rumpeltstiltskin.

She ignored Cedric asking what she did that winter break and asked them instead, moving the topic from herself. "How were your winter breaks?" Hermione answered first, "Great, did you find anything about Nicholas Flamel?" Hibiscus groaned and shook her head. Of course she had not; she had completely forgotten to go back for that book.

"Thank you for the dress Cedric," Hibiscus smiled. He grinned back, "I thought you would like it." Then Hibiscus shushed them when she saw Dumbledore stand to deliver his speech. "Hello, young witches and wizards. Hogwarts welcomes you back with open arms." Dramatically he spread his arms.

Then, before he could continue Marcus Flint stood and walked up to the headmaster. "Professor," he began in a loud voice, "This evening it was Vincent Crabbe and myself who were the ones who slammed Luna Lovegood into the wall. I am unworthy of the honor of being prefect." His voice was working like clockwork, and then he robotically pulled off his prefect badge and handed it to Dumbledore who looked completely stunned.

Hibiscus giggled maliciously, causing Neville Longbottom who was sitting next to her to give her an odd look. At the precise moment her giggle left her lips, Marcus Flint shouted, "I LOVE YOU PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE. I HAVE VERY, DIRTY DREAMS ABOUT YOU." Then he began stripping while the poor old man looked as though he wanted fire to consume him. The whole school was laughing at this point, which tripled when Flint jumped naked on the table and gave tiny Flitwick a lap dance.

"EEEEEEEEE," Flitwick squealed in fright, and then Flint walked up to Snape and tried to sit in his lap until he was jinxed to the wall and put under a _Dillusionment charm_.After several moments Dumbledore recovered himself and clapped his hands. "Dessert time." Then he quickly walked over to Professor McGonagall and whispered with her.

Despite his ploy to tempt the students with treacle tart many of them still watched. Hibiscus turned back to Cedric and Hermione and smiled for the first time since _he _had approached her the day after Christmas. Cedric looked disgusted, "That was more of Flint than I ever needed to see."

Hibiscus woke up and stretched her arms, basking in the sunlight that was shining through her window. Quickly she turned off her _Alarm charm _and stood, walking into the bathroom. When she was finished she dressed in her uniform and she ran downstairs.

Hermione, Hibiscus remembered. Then she decided it would be best to just make sure she made it to potions and didn't go back for her friend. She had to see Snape's expression after he was straddled the evening before.

Practically sprinting down the steps to the dungeons and racing passed one Draco Malfoy. Stopping and backpedaling she gave Malfoy a sugary smile. "Wow, I don't think you can understand how glad I am to see you wearing pants today!" Then she began running again until she reached the potions class. Collecting herself she reached for the knob and walked inside.

Setting down her messenger bag she fished out her wand and she began to set up her cauldron. Then the class began and Hermione rushed in and set up just as Snape billowed in. "Today you will be brewing Antidote to Common Poisons. If it is not perfect by the end of class you will serve a detention."

Quickly Hibiscus and Hermione jumped into action. Hibiscus pulled out her potions kit and started the heat on the cauldron while Hermione got all of the ingredients. When the cauldron was bubbling Hermione threw in the standard ingredient.

The two girls waited until the leaves of the ingredient were saturated with water then Hermione was about to throw in the crushed unicorn horn when Hibiscus held out her hand. "The purpose of the unicorn horn is to break the poison in the mistletoe berries to allow a chemical reaction with the bezoars. What if we used snake fangs instead of unicorn horn and increased the dosage of berries to make our potion more potent?"

"But Snape said he would give us detention if it isn't perfect and he hates when you invent." Hibiscus pointed to a passage in Arsenius Jigger's book in response. "The passage here says that it is very rare occurrence to brew this potion and achieve a waxy yellow color instead of clear white. When this happens it means that the potion is more effective. Yellow usually means that the potion is stronger than average." Hibiscus paused taking a breath, "If we replace the unicorn horn, the snake fang is a stronger ingredient and can break more of the poisonous properties of the mistletoe berries making the chemical reaction between the berries and bezoars stronger than usual leading to a yellow color."

"Why can't we just add more unicorn horn?" Hermione asked. "Because too much unicorn horn could dilute the properties of the bezoars," Hibiscus began, "If the bezoars are diluted the potion could become inactive and useless." Hermione gave her a very sharp look then gave in, "Fine."

They had wasted time and only had thirty minutes left. Crushing the snake fangs Hibiscus watched as Hermione peeled the berries then they ground the two ingredients together into mush. Then they dropped three bezoars into the cauldron. When the bezoars dissolved they changed the color of the cauldron to a green- brown color and they poured in the mixture of snake fang and berry.

Then they stirred it until it turned to a light green. With six minutes exactly left they allowed it to sit for a couple of moments until the mixture turned yellow. Hermione frowned, "Why isn't it _waxy _yellow." Hibiscus merely grinned, "We changed the ingredients so a step needs to be added." Quickly she walked over to the store room and looked for what she needed.

Then Hibiscus returned with two minutes left. "What did you get?" Hermione asked. Hibiscus opened her palm revealing the Snidget tree root. "This will activate the snake fang, ridding our potion of poison." Hermione screeched, "The mistletoe berry poison was never broken down!" Hibiscus felt uncomfortable with Hermione glaring daggers at her back so she quickly chopped the roots then stirred them in, causing the potion to turn waxy yellow just as Snape snarled, "Time."

The two friends sat there together, nervous. Hibiscus was especially nervous because Snape had not done anything to her all morning and would probably say something awful about her potion. Then she wrinkled her nose, oddly enough he had not even thrown a single glare her way that morning. They watched as he walked by, surprisingly everyone had been desperate to succeed and no detentions were given.

Then, he made it to her cauldron. He looked at her and jumped in surprise. Hibiscus was startled; his normally expressionless eyes seemed to be drinking in her new features, just like everyone else. "Potter," his voice rasped, "Why is your potion not clear white as the book specifies?" Hibiscus simply glared at him, "I feel as though I do not need to explain that this is the more desired color, _Professor _Snape." Her hands balled into fists.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for experimentation with potions ingredients and detention for both of you. An owl will be sent to you with details." He began to walk away and Hibiscus stood angrily, "_LOOK AT ME SNAPE." _He turned around slowly and stared at her with his ever blank eyes. The students in the class watched the ordeal silently, not noticing that Hibiscus was using succubae magic on Snape. Odd, the girl thought, she could not find his aura.

"_WE WILL NOT RECEIVE DETENTION AND YOU WILL GIVE US ONE HUNDRED POINTS." _Snape merely stared her down and said, "I will not, Potter, now sit down before you and Miss Granger receive detention for the rest of the school year." Hibiscus looked at him, shocked and sat back down shakily. Snape looked at the class then bellowed, "LEAVE, CLASS IS DISMISSED." They all ran, Hibiscus double-checking she had her bag.

Snape stood still for a moment then locked the door. He whipped his wand in circular movements then muttered, "Expecto Patronum." When his doe came into existence he whispered his message then told the Patronum who it was to go to. "Lily Evans."

Hibiscus Potter stood in the common room ranting about Snape to Hermione Granger. "He is a foul, loathsome, MONSTROUS PIECE OF-." Hibiscus was cut off by people gasping at what had come through the portrait hole. Many of them were giving Neville Longbottom pitiful glances while others laughed. "SHUT UP!" Hibiscus shouted, "Or you will have to deal with me."

The fifth years immediately stopped laughing, it was common knowledge what the powerful young witch was capable of. She then turned to Hermione who had taken the _Leg-locking curse _off of Neville. She felt her heart tug when she saw he was crying.

"What happened?" She asked him. "Malfoy put the curse on me. He did it in the great hall and I had to drag myself here." Neville answered. "No one helped you?" Hermione asked completely appalled. He didn't answer the rhetorical question. Hibiscus reached for her purse that was in her messenger bag and pulled out some chocolate frogs for him.

"Eat them, they will help calm you down," Hibiscus insisted when he pushed them back. He finished and thanked them, giving Hibiscus all of the famous witches and wizards cards. Then he went to go for an early bedtime. When he made it to the stairs Hibiscus turned to one of her cards and realized it was Dumbledore.

"Hermione," Hibiscus gasped and shoved the card at her friend, "we need to look in the alchemy section for the stone." She was so stupid; she had never realized that the book in the restricted section had given her all the answers she needed through the title alone.

Hey, so I hope you all are not too confused. Hibiscus is going to reveal what happened over the winter break very soon and Tom Riddle might make another appearance. Sorry if this chapter isn't too good, I was not sure about it. Please Review!

Next Chapter: Unicorns, Nundu's and dragons, oh my.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Unicorns, Nundu's and Dragons, oh my.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Sunlight shined into the library, casting an arc across the three students who sat over the book. Then, they all fell back simultaneously. "Amazing," Cedric muttered, "No wonder he tried to steal it."

"It can turn any metal into gold…" Hermione muttered. "Don't forget that it can give immortality to anyone who consumes the elixir." Hibiscus reminded. None of them spoke, what _could _they say anyways?

Instead they stood and went to lunch. "So what do we do now that we know what the stone is?" Hermione asked Hibiscus, Cedric turned to look at her too. "We can watch Snape more closely," She answered, "When he slips up we will be able to launch a fatal swipe and get rid of him for good." At that moment they had stopped in front of the great hall when a voice came from behind them.

"Swipe at whom?" They spun around and saw Luna Lovegood, her left eye covered by a black bruise. "You guys go ahead." Hibiscus said and she pushed them along before they could protest. "How much did you hear?" Hibiscus asked when they had finally left. While she waited for her to respond Hibiscus practically dragged her out of the castle and towards the bridge that led to the forbidden forest.

"I heard enough to know that you are after Snape…" The girl evaded her question yet again. "I a-," Hibiscus was interrupted by Luna. "I need to tell you something." Hibiscus was getting annoyed, "Get on with it Luna."

"I was walking in the forbidden forest yesterday. Sometimes I like to feed the thestrals." Hibiscus was exasperated and waved her hand for the other witch to continue. "Then I heard Professor Snape talking to Professor Quirrell." Hibiscus became hopeful that they had found a new clue to follow that could help them prevent Snape from feeling the stone. When Luna recanted the part of the conversation she heard, Hibiscus started to feel queasy.

_"…__don't know why you wanted to meet here of all places, Severus"  
__"__Oh, I thought we'd keep this private, students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone after all."  
__"__Have you found out a way to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"  
__"__but, Severus, I-"  
__"__You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell (Snape, taking a step towards Quirrell)  
__"__I don't know what you-"  
__"__You know perfectly well what I mean."  
__"__\- your little bit of hocus pocus. I'm waiting"  
__"__But I don't-"  
__"__Very well. We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie." _

"I heard you talking about the Philosopher's stone as well," Luna began, "My dad wrote an article about it a few years ago." Hibiscus stared at Luna; the girl had proved she was very useful in this situation. "Luna, we found out that Snape is trying to steal the stone. Cedric Diggory, Hermione Granger and I are going to protect it from him, will you help us?"

"I am not quite sure Hibiscus Potter, let me check my schedule. There is a thestral giving birth soon and I wanted to be there you see."

Hibiscus saw smoke from Hagrid's cabin and decided to go see her pets instead of charms class. As she walked down the hillside she remembered Luna promising to be secretive and keep an eye and ear out on Snape and Quirrell for her. Hibiscus had high hopes, mainly because people tended to ignore the odd girl with distant expressions.

When she made it to Hagrid's hut she hesitantly knocked. He opened the door, "Oh, its yer." Hibiscus smiled, "May I please come in." Then Hagrid said, "No." Her expression fell and he quickly explained, "I was jus goin ter the forest." So Hibiscus followed him.

When they were almost to where they were hiding all the creatures she decided it was now or never. "Hagrid," she said stopping, causing him to turn and look at her, "I am so sorry I threatened to tell Professor Dumbledore about the dragon, but I thought you would tell on me for the Nundu otherwise." She had unshed tears in her eyes, expecting the worst. Instead he smiled, "How 'ould I be angry 'Ibiscus, I go' the chance ter see a Nundu."

Hibiscus laughed when he pulled her into a hug, with his knee. Then they kept walking and he showed her the pets. "The unicorn has been showin' good progress. I think today you should ride 'er." Hibiscus spent five minutes scratching the Nundu, which was the size of a car now and emitting toxic venom, on the head and stroked her unicorn's glossy flank. All the while she watched Hagrid's dragon Norbert dance around spitting fire, only the anti fire wards Hagrid put up stopped unwanted forest fires.

It then took half an hour for Hagrid to teach her how to put her unicorn's saddle on and then another thirty minutes on how to ride her. When she was finally prepared Hibiscus tugged the reins causing the unicorn to gallop at full speed, horn glancing in the sunlight, and then she held tight as her winged unicorn jumped into the air.

They flew for what felt like hours. Gliding over the forest tops and passed the black lake then through Hogsmeade. When she landed back in the forbidden forest she allowed Hagrid to put her unicorn down for the rest of the night. He then asked her to put up some more wards since he was worried that his umbrella had not done the trick.

The two then walked to dinner where she hexed Malfoy out of his mind in the courtyard for calling Hagrid a half-bred oaf. One could almost forget they had detention the next month with the worst teacher in school when having so much fun with friends, _almost. _

After that evening several things changed. Hibiscus felt bad for Quirrell even though he creeped her out. This started the tradition of Cedric, Hermione and herself defending him inside and out of class. They also began to antagonize Snape violently. Hibiscus would trip, push and cause mayhem in his classroom with her telekinesis. He gave her looks as though deep down he knew it was her, but that had to be preposterous. Luna Lovegood also became a member of their tight knit club. The only thing that seemingly did not change was that they still had detention.

The evening came without any drama. They went to dinner they chatted and laughed. Hermione, Cedric, Luna and Hibiscus even had time to go the library afterwards where they researched jinxes. The evening ended on an entirely different note however. They were ready by ten at night, the Gryffindor girl prefect pushed them out to the hall where the two girls were beckoned by Filch to follow.

The cantankerous old man who Hibiscus regretted not demonizing further during her first year ranted on in a low grating voice about how in the good old days Armando Dippet had allowed him to lock kids in the dungeons. They had just made it out of the bridge that led to Hagrid's hut when Hibiscus snapped at him. "Why don't you shut up you awful old squib."

The old man froze and slowly turned around as Hermione gasped in shock. "Wow, I thought they were just rumors, but I guess they are true, you Argus Filch are a worthless _squib_." Hibiscus knew this was something that Malfoy would do but she simply did not care.

"You must think you are something _special, _Potter, because you are stupid father and mother blasted themselves to pieces for you. Well, I think they shouldn't have wasted their time since you are a worthless little _waste,_ not worth marlin's saggy old testic-." Hagrid suddenly boomed up to them. "Ello Hibiscus, Hermione. Filch." The groundskeeper added as though it was an afterthought.

"Good night pet," Filch croaked evilly at her, his lips turning into a sour grin, "Don't go and overestimate your abilities." Hibiscus was about to snarl at him when she decided on a different approach. "Good night caretaker Filch, don't you underestimate yourself for a second."

He scowled and stomped away leaving a confused Hagrid and grinning Hermione. "Wass-," Hagrid began. "Nothing, what are we doing for detention." Hibiscus asked. She wished she had not asked. Apparently they were going to have to search for an injured unicorn. They all walked into the forest and stopped when Hagrid found a silvery substance splattered near where Hagrid had found a mother unicorn's corpse.

"Jus' as I cepected," Hagrid scowled, "Something or someone is attacking them for their blood. Ministry 'o magic ne'r should 'v taken down the wards." Hibiscus was then told that the blood went in two different trails and she had to go with Fang while stupid Hermione got to go with Hagrid the, twelve foot, half-giant. What was fair about that?

Hibiscus walked and walked, she glided effortlessly over roots and loose rocks. Passed black flowers and through the dark and intimidating trees. They seemed to whisper, as though they were alive. Hibiscus had followed the trail for at least half a mile until it began to fade into drips.

The second year student feared the worst when she saw the unicorn sprawled out across the dirt of the clearing she stepped into. At least she feared the worst until the thing in the black cloak slithered out from the trees and she knew this was the worst. It opened it's mouth and she saw the silver glistening on it's lips.

Hibiscus did not even flinch; quickly she raised her wand and muttered, "_Periculum," _calmly. The first lesson she had learned this winter break was that desperation weakened magic, and she had been unable to afford any weakness. Her red sparks ripped out of her wand and flew like a lightning bolt miles into the sky, illuminating the forest momentarily.

Then she pointed her wand at the thing, Fang was behind her barking. "_STAY AWAY FROM ME." _Hibiscus said using her Control. She reached for the aura but it was just like what had happened with Snape. Nothing, the thing kept forwards. Quickly Hibiscus recalled one of the blast curses that Cedric had used earlier that term. "_Bombarda," _Hibiscus said, she remembered from a passage she read on high level curses that the wand movement was usually a sharp jab of the wand.

The spell flew through the air and Hibiscus watched in horror as it ducked her spell and merely slid across the ground like a snake. Her spell hit a tree and bark exploded outwards, raining on her head. Then the thing came close enough and leapt. Hibiscus dropped her wand in momentary shock and it grabbed her shoulders, causing her to fall backwards and end up pinned against a tree root.

Hibiscus swatted her hand and tried to use her telekinesis, but just like her Control it somehow blocked the attack. "Hibiscus Potter," the thing whispered, running it's cold lips up and down the side of her face, leaving unicorn blood in a silver trail. "You are even prettier than your mother." Then it reached down to her neck and it caught sight of what had nudged out of her shirt.

"_Impossible," _it hissed just as a centaur came running from the trees and tried to trample it. Before the centaur turned around she stuffed it back in her shirt and looked up. "Hello Miss Potter. It is unsafe for a witch such as yourself to be in this forest tonight."

The ride back had actually been very tranquil. The centaur introduced himself as Firenze and explained that his species could speak with nature. The dryads who were kin of succubus had called for help as soon she had approached the thing.

"What was that thing?" Hibiscus asked, "It was able to block my succubae magic and my witchcraft was not strong enough for it." Firenze slowed to a trot and began to speak to her with a worried tone, "To drink the blood of a unicorn can bring the drinker back from the brink of death. Only the darkest of wizards and witches would willingly drink it." Hibiscus was confused, why didn't more people drink it if it had such healing properties? Firenze continued, "To kill something so pure and then drain it of it's blood, it is a treasonous act against nature. The moment the blood touches the lips of the attacker they live an awful existence. Almost as if they have been cursed."

"How many dark wizards are there that are willing to do that?" Firenze smiled darkly, "There is only one I can think of, and you have met him." Hibiscus's eyes widened to saucers, "Voldemort." The centaur nodded. "Is that how he knew my mother?" She quickly told Firenze what had happened. The centaur nodded solemnly, "You know what your mother was, you must also know that a full grown succubae is not so easy to defeat."

"But the ministry declared him and my mother dead." Hibiscus said. "You must also know by now that the ministry of magic of magic is incapable of anything." Firenze suggested. "Even Dumbledore could not find her, and Voldemort said that she was still alive tonight." Hibiscus insisted, trying to find some way to make sure that she had misheard the dark wizard speak of her mother in the present tense.

Firenze snorted, "What makes you think that Dumbledore ever lost track of your mother. He has probably been communicating with her this whole time." Hibiscus shook her head in disbelief. "If my mother was truly still alive, why has she not contacted me for twelve years?" Firenze did not speak, they both knew he did not know the answer to that.

"'IBISCUS." Hagrid shouted. "This is our farewell Miss Potter, remember what I told you, and understand that you are much stronger than you think." He set her down then galloped off after talking to Hagrid for a moment. Hermione and Hibiscus then walked with Hagrid to the forest's edge where they shared their farewells.

The two girls walked up to the fat lady together in silence. Hibiscus stopped before Hermione could say the password and told her what happened. "Voldemort is alive!?" Hermione said stunned. She decided that she would not bring up her mother, that would lead to her explaining that her mother was a succubus.

Hibiscus looked down, "Hermione, I am so _scared. _I am _terrified_. I haven't felt so powerless since I was living with the Dursleys. Nothing I threw at Voldemort worked, he could have killed me if he wanted to." Hermione was silent for a moment then, "Look up Hibiscus," Hermione put her hands on Hibiscus's shoulders, "Who is the one wizard that Lord Voldemort feared the most in the world?"

Hibiscus shrugged her shoulders. "Dumbledore," Hermione said, "Who is the headmaster? Dumbledore. Hogwarts is the safest place in the world for you to be."

Hibiscus looked up and smiled, and then she pulled Hermione into a hug.

"Hermione Granger, you are the best friend I always wanted when I was growing up." Hermione nodded and hugged her back, and then the bushy haired witch said the password and walked through the portrait hole. Hibiscus noticed that _it _had fallen from her shirt again and she looked at it.

The locket glittered prettily in the dark. The _S _emblazoned on it was looking at her tauntingly. Quickly she stuffed it down her shirt again and walked through the portrait hole, the clang of it closing echoing across the stairwell.

Professor Quirrell stepped out of the shadows and grinned crazily at where she had been standing. "My lord, we will retrieve your horcrux and the Sorcerers stone a month from now. Lucretia Fleming has sent word."

The dark lord shifted behind the turban, "Very well Quirrell, I expect that little half breed to be taken care of as well." Quirrell did not respond, he merely slipped back into the shadows quietly.

Hey, I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!

Next Chapter: Lucretia Fleming Approaching and One Defense Down, How Many Left?


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen: The Army Approaching and One Defense Down, How Many to Go?

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The last week of that month passed and May began to roll in. Exams were set for June and many students flipped out, studying ferociously, Hermione included. "How can you read outside of the assigned curriculum with exams so close?" Hermione demanded.

Hibiscus had gained more confidence with regard to her magical abilities and felt no rush to study. Merely ignoring Hermione, Hibiscus flipped through a page of _Third Year Defense Spells. _"Why are you not answering me? Even Cedric has enough sense to be studying." Hermione said pointing at the third year Hufflepuff.

"Should I be offended," Cedric asked pointedly at Hermione. "I am not studying because Defense is in five minutes," Hibiscus said hastily, interrupting what could have been a big argument. Hermione wailed like a banshee that they could be late and they ran off together, Cedric still glaring daggers at Hermione's back.

When the girls arrived Hibiscus saw no signs of Quirrell. She was about to sit when Luna appeared in the doorway and said she had to tell her something. Hibiscus stood and walked out into the hallway.

Her friend's black eye had gone down because of Madame Pomfrey's special bruise cream. "What is it-?" Luna quickly shoved a hand over her mouth and said, "Quiet, he could arrive any moment." Hibiscus listened and merely observed Luna's wide frightened eyes.

"I saw something awful just now. _He saw me looking at him; _he must be after me by now. He was in the third floor corridor near the Cerberus. Snape is-," Then the devil himself appeared. "Miss Lovegood, you should be in my potions class by now, unless I am mistaken?" The girl was dragged away by Snape who was making baleful comments that probably meant Luna had detention coming her way while Hibiscus had to go and sit down.

Several moments later Quirrell walked in and he _smiled _at her, as though he knew something she didn't.

Hibiscus ran to the great hall faster than she ever had before. When she spotted Luna at the Hufflepuff table sitting with Cedric she ran to her. "Oh hello Hibiscus Potter." Luna sighed, her dreamy expression back.

"What were you trying to tell me before defense," Hibiscus asked, looking up and seeing Snape watching them. "What are you talking about?" Luna asked, "I never went to your defense class." Hibiscus was growing increasingly worried, "What did Snape do to you? He came and pulled you away from me. You were about to tell me about how you saw _him _on the third floor corridor and _he _saw you."

Luna Lovegood's face began to crumple inwards. She looked to be desperately trying to catch something that was in her head until she seemed to forget it. "I am sorry Hibiscus but I think you are imagining things. Maybe you should have some left over treacle tart. The elves put it out just for me."

Hibiscus sat down and when Cedric gave her a questioning look she shrugged her shoulders. Whatever Snape had done to Luna must have blocked her memory. Then the owls flew in and began dropping mail. Hibiscus looked up and saw her Argurey flying through the open window.

It dropped onto the table and left her daily prophet in front of her and a scroll of parchment. Hibiscus shook off her nagging worry about Luna, determined to research memory spells and she opened the daily prophet first. While she unrolled the news paper she fed her bird toast until it flew back to the owlery.

"Oh my gosh," the witch whispered, dropping her prawns. "What is it?" Cedric asked he had not opened his daily prophet yet. "Lucretia Fleming is back in the news," she said causing him to open his copy quickly. True to her words, Lucretia Fleming was on the headline, an image of her in a wizard city called Hawthorne.

The last time Hibiscus had seen her in Knockturn Alley, the werewolf-witch had been in charge of a ragtag little rebellion. Now she seemed to be surrounded by dark creatures of all sorts as they dominated the Aurors defending what was left of Hawthorne. This particular image showed the dark witch jabbing her wand forward and shooting a bolt at an Auror, causing him to fell dead as a door nail.

The terrifying witch then looked up and grinned at the photographer. "Hawthorne is close to the border, how did she make it through?" A nearby witch asked Cedric. "Our border has never been as strong as it used to be since He- Who- Must- Not- Be- Named led a victory blow against it to the south with his giants, Fudge has been avoiding repairing it. I didn't hear about this though, the ministry probably tried to cover it up." The girl's mouth opened in a surprised O.

"This isn't as unusual as it seems. Before You- Know- Who led the first war dark wizards and witches constantly formed military groups against the ministry. We handled those groups then so I assume we can handle this one now." Cedric told Hibiscus and Luna. "Cedric, you haven't seen what she is capable of," Hibiscus had told her friends about the attack on Knockturn Alley, "I have seen her in battle, and she probably does not even need followers to defeat the ministry."

All three friends went silent and finished their lunch quietly then left, the scroll of parchment forgotten until it was snatched up by the ever staring eyes.

As the next three weeks went by Hibiscus immersed herself in preparation for her exams and study of memory charms. This of course was not just in the hopes of catching Snape but getting him sacked and restoring her friend's memory.

Many of her classmates in Gryffindor were affected by the death of one relative or another. This was turning out to be a season of grieving and Hibiscus did all she could to distract herself. The witch was reading about the succubae talent of Despair which turned the caster into the thing that the foe feared most when Hermione ran up to her.

"Hibiscus, I just realized something," Hermione gushed, "After you showed me Norbert, don't you think the whole thing is a bit odd?" Hibiscus shook her head, "No. What do you mean?" Hermione explained her thoughts, "Well, someone comes along and gives Hagrid a dragons egg out of nowhere at the three broomsticks, the thing he wants the most in the whole world then Luna sees 'someone' who we all know is Snape in the third floor cor-," Hibiscus jumped up, her book thumping to the ground.

"Hermione, you are brilliant. Go get Cedric and I will get Luna. We all need to talk to Hagrid about this." The two girls fled, they would not be returning until later that evening.

The book of succubae magic lay forgotten until it was snatched up by the ever staring eyes.

Hibiscus pushed herself up the stairwell with all of the strength she possessed. The Ravenclaw common room was down the hall and Hibiscus raced to it. The second year Gryffindor had only ever seen it several times before from a distance when she would drop off Luna.

The door to the common room was a polished brown with a gold eagle knocker. Hibiscus knocked it and it rasped, _"__What has three eyes and cannot be escaped?" _Hibiscus thought for a moment, "Fate?" The door then swung open. Quickly Hibiscus walked in and saw Luna sitting in an armchair by the fire.

"Luna," Hibiscus beckoned to her friend. The first year Ravenclaw stood and they ran down to Hagrid's hut together. Trying her best to explain while navigating the halls, Hibiscus finally managed to tell Luna about Hermione's brilliant realization. Soon the two girls made it out to the hut.

Knocking on the door Hagrid stomped forwards and let them in. "'Ello, 'Ibiscus, Luna." The two girls smiled and entered, discovering that Cedric and Hermione were already there. "So, ter what do I owe ther pleasure o' this visit?"

Hibiscus ignored the tea and rock cake he had set out for her and cut to the chase. "Hagrid, how did you get your dragon?" The giant scratched his head. "I told yer didn' I? A man in 'uh hood 'proached me at the three broomsticks." Hibiscus looked at the others.

"Hagrid… What did you talk to him about?" Hibiscus paused realizing that this was not going to end well. "Well, Nothin' much, he seemed pretty interested in Fluffy. Then he gave me a dragon egg an' left." Hibiscus did not want to ask this question, "What did you say about Fluffy?" Hagrid looked at his feet for a moment and didn't respond. "Hagrid…?" Hibiscus persisted.

"Well, I told 'im 'bout 'ow he goes to sleep an' all, 'e seemed very interested in that, told 'im 'ow just a bit o' music puts the dolt to sleep." Hibiscus stood and fled from the hut towards the castle ignoring Hagrid calling after her and her friends. Nighttime approached swiftly and Hibiscus realized she had missed her magical theory class.

"This is bad," Hibiscus said furiously to her friends, "Snape knows how to get passed Fluffy now." Cedric spoke up, "We need to tell Dumbledore now." The four friends all ran out to the Transfiguration classroom. They were almost there when they heard the news that was flying around the school. "Did you hear, the _ministry _is under attack by _Lucretia Fleming _and her _army_? Dumbledore went to help in the battle."

Hibiscus and her friends stopped short. "McGonagall is never going to believe us." Cedric said. Hibiscus merely nodded in agreement, Luna was the only one who said anything, "I say we stop him ourselves." Hermione interjected, "How, the oldest of us isn't even in his fourth year and we have no experience with dark wizards?"

"I do. My parents sacrificed themselves to save me from this bastard; he sure as hell isn't resurrecting himself." Then Hibiscus decided that the group needed a leader in that moment, if no one else could stop Voldemort, she would. "Cedric, you need to go and warn Professor McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout that Voldemort is going to steal the stone, then meet us back at the third floor corridor," Hibiscus paused and turned to Luna, "Luna, I need you to go and send an owl to Dumbledore at the ministry saying that Voldemort is after the stone and he needs to return to the school. Then meet up with us."

The two students hurried in opposite directions and Hibiscus turned to Hermione. "We need to go to the dormitory and get the invisibility cloak and some other things." So the two friends ran as fast as they could to the Gryffindor common room. Filch almost ran into them but Hibiscus quickly whipped out a _Knock-back jinx _at him and they continued running.

"Go upstairs and get what you need," Hermione said, "I will wait down here." Hibiscus did so and continued running up to the common room. When she made it inside she yanked her purse out of her trunk and looked down at Slytherin's locket.

Hibiscus ran back down the steps and stopped short. Ronald Weasley was holding his wand to Hermione's throat. "Don't do something stupid, Weasley." Hibiscus warned stepping into the moonlight and extending her wand. "I could say the same for you." He warned, digging his wand in further, causing Hermione to whimper.

"_DROP THE WAND AND PASS OUT." _Hibiscus was frustrated beyond belief when Ronald Weasley managed to block his aura from her attempt at Control. "Tsk-tsk little succubus," he chided, a mad glint in his eyes. "HOW," Hibiscus roared, "Are you able to do that?"

He tilted his head, a twisted smirk gracing his lips, "Wait, _the _Hibiscus _Potter _doesn't know something?" He then pointed to a corner with his free hand. She looked over and saw her book on succubae magic. Then it clicked, he read her book and found out how to block her magic.

"How?" She demanded. Ronald Weasley grinned, "The book said that youngling succubae are powerless when a Hag Stone is used against them. You just bury it somewhere important to yourself and you become immune to succubus magic, it was difficult to find in such a short amount of time." He was obviously smug that he had outsmarted her; Hibiscus however was beyond enraged to no end that he had discovered all of her secrets when even her closest friends could not.

"I have always had a little shall we say, _crush, _on you while I grew up." She definitely did not like where this was going. "So when you chose this little beaver over me it _really _hurt my feelings. I just snapped." Dramatically he used his free hand to snap. "I watched you all year long. Hang out with your boyfriend Diggory, perform that ritual in the forest and even sneak into the restricted section over winter break…"

Hibiscus was shocked and she could see that Hermione was too. This boy had enough dirt to bury them alive. "Yes, I know all about your invisibility cloak, but you have _very _loud footsteps and I was quite, _determined _to find you," the boy took a pause in which he dug his wand tip into Hermione's throat even deeper.

"Then recently I found out about your pet Nundu, and all about the Sorcerer's stone, merely by looking at the books you all read together in the library, _sweetheart_," he dragged the last word out and smiled as though he was getting high off of it, "I discovered your biggest secret though when you left that letter on the table for me to find."

Hibiscus jumped, she had forgotten all about that. "You dirty little shi-," he pushed the wand impossibly deeper into Hermione's throat and said, "_I wasn't finished speaking." _His eyes became red as coals. "To think that even your own _mother _did not want you, that she was alive this whole time and a dirty half breed _just like you_. I naturally wanted to send all of my evidence to the daily prophet."

Hibiscus was seething, he _did not_. "But then I decided that I simply had to blackmail you, especially after you came back from winter break looking like that." He gestured to her new appearance as though it explained all. Hibiscus looked around and noticed that Hermione's wand was surprisingly still in her pocket. If she could distract this little mail reading psychopath she could bring him to his knees.

"You win… Ron." It killed her but she tried to make it sound seductive, "To tell you the truth, I have _always _wanted you too." She hoped it sounded sincere, as she pushed her long golden hair off her shoulders. His eyes followed it and she made eye contact with Hermione who snatched her wand and wrenched away from Ron. They both held him at wand point.

"You dirty little psychopath," Hibiscus shrieked, "Where is my letter?" He was unable to answer because Hermione sent a _Total Body Bind _curse at him in response to his _Knock-back jinx _that he threw at Hibiscus. Walking over to him Hibiscus reached in his pockets, finding the scroll of parchment she had forgotten on the table in the great hall.

Then before Hermione could stop her, Hibiscus flicked her wand and muttered, _"__Obliviate." _A cloudy beam came out of her wand tip and connected with his forehead. Then she grinned viciously, he wouldn't remember enough of this year to know what she looked like, nonetheless blackmail her.

"HIBISCUS," Hermione shouted in shock. The girl mentioned stood quickly hearing the prefects move around upstairs. "He was going to blackmail us Hermione, now we need to go." Go they did.

They leapt over false staircases and slid passed Peeves until they eventually made it to where Cedric and Luna were. "What took you two so long?" he asked, "You look like you were to hell and back." Hibiscus ignored him and ran to the chamber where Fluffy was. "What happened with the teachers?"

He did not hesitate, "They called a teacher's meeting and are planning a safety plan for the students. Good thing we told the others because McGonagall did not believe me. They also think we are in bed." Hibiscus stopped momentarily and magically unlocked the door. "What about you Luna?"

The girl was surprisingly in reality, "The letter has been sent." Hibiscus did not respond as they walked passed the sleeping Cerberus and to the trap door. "You first Cedric," he grinned and jumped in then Luna followed with no hesitance. When Hermione finally jumped, Hibiscus moved to edge of the trapdoor just as the three headed dog woke up, causing her to fall in face first.

She landed straight into the middle of devil's snare. "Keep calm," Hermione kept reminding them, "That is how you prevent it from killing you." Hibiscus had no trouble with this, too busy thinking. Of course she had not expected the Cerberus to be the only challenge, but that only led to the question of just how many challenges there actually were.

I don't know how I feel about this chapter. Tell me what you think of Ron turning out to be a complete lunatic. Please review!

Next Chapter: You Just Got Stoned and The Battle Has Just Begun.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen: You Just Got Stoned and The Battle Has Just Begun.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus Potter slipped out of the grip of the devil's snare right before Hermione. Cedric came slowly after the bushy haired witch. Luna Lovegood however kept giggling and moving around above them.

"LUNA, YOU NEED TO STOP MOVING!" Hermione shouted. Luna continued giggling about how the plant tickled however. Hermione snarled under her breath about 'dead weight,' and she started rambling. "Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare...what did Professor Sprout say?" "It likes the dark and damp" Answered Hibiscus instantly. "So light a fire!" Hermione realized.

Whipping both of their wands from their sleeves the two girls waved them in the direction of the devil's snare. Then almost in synchronization they muttered the incantation to blue bell flames and watched as an arc of blue flame left their wands and struck the mass of writhing vines above their heads. Almost instantly an unpleasant and high pitched scream pierced the air as the devil's snare slowly burned.

Then after a very long moment the smoldering plant went completely limp and released a very bewildered Luna onto the ground. Luna stood shakily to her feet and sighed, "Those nargles just _had _to keep tickling me."

As the four students walked down the corridor that led further into the depths of Hogwarts they began to hear noises. "It sounds like… Wings." Cedric said. Hibiscus tilted her head and tried to listen more closely like the others. Then she remembered that she didn't have to.

Straightening her head she closed her eyes and called on her Focus. Instantly her other senses disappeared and her hearing quadrupled in quality. Cedric had been right, wings. There were hundreds of them beating around. Wrinkling her eyes Hibiscus tried to discern something else she heard and she realized that it was in a large chamber based off the echoes.

Pulling back she looked at her friends and said, "Wands out everyone. We have no choice, we need to keep going." They all nodded solemnly in response and followed her. "Hibiscus, I never got a chance to ask, but what was Ronald Weasley talking about tonight?" Hermione asked. Hibiscus paused and turned around. She had to make up her mind whether to dismiss him as a psychopath or tell Hermione the truth.

Instead she decided to postpone. "We can talk about it later. We all need to keep going." Hermione nodded, but Hibiscus could tell that it was nowhere from over. Cedric looked like he was going to ask a question as well but Hibiscus merely started walking quickly again.

The fluttering of the wings grew closer and closer until they all came to an archway that spilled light out into the stone corridor. Hibiscus stopped to make sure that they all had their wands out. Instead she watched in amazement as Luna drifted forwards and squealed in delight.

"There are Fluttering Humdingers in here! My dad writes all about them in the Quibbler." The girl was bouncing up and down, while Hermione strode forwards and looked inside as well. "No they aren't. Those don't exist." Hibiscus peered around Cedric's shoulder and realized that someone must have enchanted keys to act like birds.

There was a large chamber with a ceiling that stretched farther than three Hagrid's standing on each other's shoulders. Through the air fluttered hundreds of keys with wings, mirroring a flock of birds exactly. In the middle of the room a broom floated in midair, probably due to a _Hovering Charm. _

"C'mon," Cedric said, "The door is over there." They all looked further across the room and saw a heavy oak door on the other side of the room. Hibiscus took off in a sprint with the others next to her. They all looked up at the keys, expecting them to attack them or for something else unpleasant to occur.

Instead they reached the door easily and Cedric reached out to twist the door handle. Hibiscus almost screamed in rage when it didn't twist at all. Spinning around she observed the broom and realized what they had to do. Hermione turned around after trying all of the _Unlocking Charms _she knew. "One of us needs to fly up and catch the key to that door." Hibiscus said.

"The only question is which key is it?" Cedric said. Then Luna started giggling madly causing them to look at her. "That one Humdinger is flying quite peculiarly." She started pointing at one that was flying oddly. "FLUTTERING HUMDINGERS DON'T EXIS- Wait!" Hermione screamed, "That one looks like it's wings were broken." Hibiscus twisted her head and decided that she was right, that had to be the key to the door.

"Cedric, you need to use that broom to fly up and catch it." Hibiscus said hurriedly, beginning to push him toward the broom. "Are you mad?" He asked, "You're much better at Quidditch than me." Hibiscus stopped and looked at him. "He is right Hibiscus," Hermione said, "If any of us can catch it, you can."

Hibiscus stared at them then disbelievingly, and then she walked slowly to the broom. As soon as she gripped it, it seemed as though a spell had been broken and all of the keys went wild. They darted around the broken key and flew away in a tightly packed flock towards the ceiling.

Throwing a leg over the broomstick Hibiscus flew up in a spiral toward the flock. Then right when she was at least twenty feet toward the ceiling the mass of keys exploded out wards and began to slice at every inch of her body. Hibiscus saw her friends watching her from below, their faces looked as though they thought she would fall any moment, and then she thought of Tom Riddle, probably laughing somewhere while she fought for her life.

When this thought entered her mind she waved her hand around and ferociously slapped the broomstick. All of the keys instantly crumbled down towards the ground from the force of her telekinesis. Taking a deep breath Hibiscus dived downwards and instantly spotted the broken key falling behind. Reaching out farther and farther she finally plucked it into her palm and dropped her telekinetic hold over the other keys.

Flying towards her friends at a breakneck speed she came close to the ground and threw herself from the broom. Falling into a roll she jumped to her feet and ran to the door, ignoring her pain. The keys were now flying towards the group, the swoosh of metal flying through the air reverberating across the room.

Hibiscus made it to the door and jammed the key into the hole, twisting violently then ripping the door open. The group of students pushed through the doorsill and then Cedric slammed it shut, the keys began pounding into it a split second later.

All of them were gasping for breath and looking at the new room they were in. A giant chessboard sprawled across the chamber. Torches hung around the room and lit the faces of the elaborate life-sized chess pieces. "Wizard's chess," Cedric said. Hibiscus was familiar with this game, before winter break Cedric had taught her how to play it.

They all began to walk across the board. Luna was about to drift passed a white pawn and on to the next chamber, when all of them jumped into action and raised their blades. "What are we supposed to do?" Hermione wondered aloud. Suddenly a pawn raised it's blade and pointed them towards the other side of the board.

Cedric began to grin. "We just have to play a game of wizard's chess." They all back pedaled towards the other side and looked at Cedric expectantly; he after all was the expert. They were not disappointed, he immediately went to business. He seemed to contemplate a piece for a moment, and then he would dismiss it from the game and replace one of them with it. When he replaced himself with a knight the game had begun.

Yet another piece exploded to tiny pieces of stone, leaving small cuts all over her face. Hibiscus watched as right after this a white bishop smashed a black rook, flinching violently. What if that had been one of her friends and not a stone chess piece? Looking to the corner Hermione stood in she realized that she was just as perturbed as she was.

Both witches were pale as bone while they watched Cedric crush piece after piece. Even Luna seemed to recognize the seriousness of this situation and her dreamy expression was replaced by a mask of fear. Another blast echoed as Cedric sacrificed a pawn in order to get rid of a knight next to Luna.

Hibiscus watched as the girl coughed violently due to the cloud of dust that enveloped her square. Then she looked up at Cedric again and looked in the direction of his steely gaze. The white queen stood there, the only thing between the king and victory. Immediately Hibiscus realized what Cedric was going to do. "NO! YOU CAN'T!" Cedric refused to look at her.

"WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO?" Hermione shouted across the board. "HE IS GOING TO SACRIFICE HIMSELF." Hibiscus answered. Instantly the bushy haired witch began to shout out every reason why that was a bad idea when Cedric cut her off. "DO YOU THINK I CAN STOP VOLDEMORT HERMIONE? NO. ONLY HIBISCUS CAN AND SHE IS MAKING IT PASSED HERE." Then he moved forwards and let the queen strike the black horse he sat on to bits of stone.

Moving quickly so that she could help Cedric Hibiscus ran across the marble squares towards the white king. "CHECKMATE." She screamed at the top of her lungs. She spun around and heard the clang of the sword dropped by the white king as she looked at Cedric's limp form.

Hermione and Luna were already bent over him. Running, Hibiscus did not stop until she had reached the others then she fell to her knees. Cedric was unconscious, blood gushing from the side of his forehead. "You two should go," Luna said, "I can get him to the hospital wing." Hibiscus stared at her, "No, we all need-." Hermione raised her hand. "Hibiscus, we came here to do something, Luna is perfectly capable of using a _Levitation Charm_. While she does that we need to go and hold off Voldemort until she can get more teachers."

Hibiscus thought about it, Hermione was right. Luna was a capable witch for a first year. If anyone could get Cedric to the hospital wing it was her. Standing up she made a split decision and hoped it was the right thing to do. "You have this Luna. C'mon Hermione, we need to go."

The next room reeked worse than Dudley Dursley's fat rolls. If you asked Hibiscus Potter how she knew what that smelled like she would refuse to answer. Apparently Voldemort had actually taken care of _one _task for them.

Three mountain trolls lay slain in the chamber. One had black-green blood spurting from it's severed neck while another looked as though it's head had popped. The third had it's eyes gouged out and was partially severed at it's waistline. Next to her Hermione had begun to retch violently.

Hibiscus grabbed the girl's shoulder and dragged her into the next room. When the door shut and blocked out the stench Hermione's gagging began to subside. "What-blegh- kind of monster could do something like that?" Hermione demanded, gagging during her sentence. Hibiscus had no response. If Hermione had not even been able to handle those dead trolls she definitely would not have been able to handle the things Tom Riddle had done in front of her. Shivering at the thought of him, Hibiscus looked at the room instead. A table stood in the middle with seven different bottles.

Walking towards the door Hibiscus noticed there were two layers to it. The first layer seemed to be flames the shade of purple while behind it seemed to be flames the color black. Turning around Hibiscus noted that Hermione was picking up a piece of parchment from beneath one of the bottles and looking at it in confusion. "What does it say?" Hibiscus asked her.

"Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,

Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,

One among us seven will let you move ahead,

Another will transport the drinker back instead,

Two among our number hold only nettle wine,

Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.

Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,

To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:

First, however slyly the poison tries to hide

You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;

Second, different are those who stand at either end,

But if you would move onwards neither is your friend;

Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,

Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;

Fourth, the second left and the second on the right

Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight."

Hermione seemed to be ecstatic. "This is wonderfully brilliant!" Hibiscus was not so sure. "It is?" Hermione gave her a reproachful look, "Of course it is. No matter how great a witch or wizard is most of them couldn't get passed it."

Hibiscus was still confused but Hermione continued, taking a deep breath. "This tests a witch's logic opposed to their strength. Not just anyone could get through this." Before Hibiscus could respond Hermione was already tinkering around with the bottles. Grumbling under her breath she opened some of the bottles and sniffed deeply.

After ten minutes of heavy silence she set a large bottle down, looked at the paper again and said, "I know what is what." Hibiscus moved forwards quickly and watched as her friend pointed to each bottle. "Poison, nettle wine, potion to move you back through the black fire, poison, poison, nettle wine and the potion for the purple flames."

Hibiscus picked up both of the potions for the fire and realized that they were almost empty. "Only one of us can go through." Hermione said, "You go on and I will go and help Luna." Hibiscus felt her breathing speed up. "M-me. B-but you-you are smart-smarter than me."

"Hibiscus, do you really think I stand a chance against Voldemort for a single minute?" Hibiscus looked at her eyes. "I have logic and I know a lot of spells, but do you think that is all it will take to face him?" Hermione was gaining a fierce glint to her eyes. "No, it isn't. It takes bravery, and I don't have even an ounce as much as you do. So go in there and make him remember to regret the day he messed with Hibiscus Potter." Then she watched as her friend pulled off the stoppers on the bottles and handed them to her.

"Drink." Hibiscus picked up the first one and gulped it down, feeling something like ice flow down her throat. Then before she could think she had gulped the second one down and hugged Hermione tightly. "You can do this Hibiscus. You are so much stronger than you will ever realize…" Hermione said motivationally just before Hibiscus turned around and ran head on through the flames.

The chamber she had run into was lit by torches, just like all of the others. This one however had a mirror standing in the middle of the room. One she was very familiar with, the only thing she was not familiar with however was the man standing in the middle of the room.

He turned around, his face stretching into a malicious grin. "I wondered when I would be seeing you, Potter." Hibiscus was in shock, how? "Quirrell, but Snape and-." Quirrell waved his hand for her to stop talking. "Yes, how could poor stuttering Quirrell ever stand a chance at stealing the Sorcerer's stone?"

Hibiscus Potter thought about for a moment, all of the puzzle pieces were slipping together. Not just all of the evidence she gathered about Snape and the stone but also all of the feelings he had given her this year. All of those moments where she had felt there was something dark beneath the surface. If it was really him though then, "You attacked Luna?" The wizard grinned at her wickedly. "A simple memory charm can do wonders Miss Potter." Hibiscus had many more questions but Quirrell had turned back to the mirror and was scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I don't understand. I see the stone clearly, yet I can't retrieve it." Furiously he kicked the ground. Then out of nowhere a voice spoke, "_USE THE GIRL." _

Quirrell spun around with his wand outstretched. "Come here girl." Hibiscus was not stupid; she had no chance of defeating him. However, if she could get her wand out while he was distracted, maybe she could beat him. Stepping forward and looking into the mirror she saw her parents behind her. Then the her in the mirror lifted up a hand holding a ruby red stone and slipped it in her pocket. Hibiscus blinked and realized that a new weight was now in her pocket.

"What do you see?" Quirrell demanded. Hibiscus stared at the mirror and lied, "I see my family, and I have just won the Quidditch cup. I am head girl and Dumbledore is shaking my hand." Something feral twisted Quirrell's face as the same voice spoke again, "_LIES. REVEAL ME TO HER QUIRRELL." _

"But master, you are weak-AHHHH-." The wizard clutched his head in agony. Quickly he began unwrapping his purple turban. Hibiscus watched in horror at what unfolded before her. Slowly, Quirrell turned around, revealing another face on the back of his head.

"_WELL. MISS POTTER, YOU HAVE SEVERAL THINGS OF MINE THAT I WOULD LIKE BACK." _In a flash she had whipped out her wand and she put up a quick _Shield Charm, _blocking a rope that flew from Quirrell's wand. Backing away slowly she held her wand pointed towards him.

"_SUCH A MAGICAL PRODIGY," _Voldemort hissed, "_YOUR MUDBLOOD MOTHER MUST BE SO PROUD." _Hibiscus gritted her teeth, "Don't you _dare _say anything about my mother."

Twisting Quirrell's head to either side Voldemort grinned. "_YOU ARE SO DEFENSIVE OF A FILTHY HALF BREED. TELL ME, DEAR HIBISCUS POTTER, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO KNOW THAT EVEN THAT FILTHY WOMAN DID NOT WANT YOU. THAT SHE HAS BEEN ALIVE THIS WHOLE TIME?" _Hibiscus shook her head violently, remembering that she had never gotten a chance to read that letter Ronald Weasley had stolen and he had said almost the exact same thing.

"_LET US MOVE ON TO MORE IMPORTANT TOPICS POTTER. SUCH AS THE STONE YOU HIDE IN YOUR POCKET OR THE LOCKET THAT IS RIGHTFULLY MINE." _Hibiscus looked at him in shock. The only person who knew about that was Tom Riddle, even Weasley hadn't found out. "How do you know that?"

Voldemort smiled and twisted the neck again. "_I KNOW LOTS OF THINGS POTTER. I EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE DIADEM OF RAVENCLAW YOU PURIFIED. I JUST WANT IT BACK." _Quirrell's wand pointed forward again and she blocked a blast of white light, aiming it towards the ceiling of the chamber.

Hibiscus turned and ran hearing Voldemort hiss at Quirrell to stop her. The flames around the chamber flared higher than ever as something picked her up and threw her into the steps. Quirrell slowly approached and smiled victoriously. "_RETREIVE THE LOCKET FIRST." _Voldemort hissed. Quirrell reached forwards and pulled back the collar of her shirt carefully barely brushing her flesh, only revealing bare skin, the locket long hidden in the depths of her trunk.

Surprise was the only thing that registered in Hibiscus's mind when the wizard pulled back and gripped his hand. His finger that had touched her was rapidly crumbling to dust. "My lord- What is happening to me?" He cried out. Ignoring the pain that echoed through every fiber of her being Hibiscus stood and grabbed him.

Something began to stir in her soul. Her blood began to boil as she held onto his face and watched as his body broke apart like ancient stone. His screams and Voldemort's screams of pain were drowned out by the high pitched giggles leaving her throat. Until finally, Quirrius Quirrell exploded into dust.

Hibiscus instantly fell back into the stone steps and gradually stopped giggling as the rush of power left her body. Looking upwards from the floor she realized a cloud of dust was raising into the air where Quirrell had stood. "_THE BATTLE__IS FAR FROM OVER POTTER." _Voldemort hissed, and then he flew away and straight through the walls.

Hello! I was away at camp and I got writers blocked with this chapter. This writers block wasn't half as bad as it is for the other story I am writing though. Please read, review, follow, favorite. Anything to show you are still reading this. Thanks!

Next Chapter: Enemies from The Forest and The Breaking of One's Magic.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: Enemies from The Forest and The Breaking of One's Magic.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus did not know what to feel as she dragged her broken body down the halls of Hogwarts. Don't ask how she made it passed the Cerberus; it took a broom and lots of determination. She wanted to feel elated that she had defeated the darkest wizard of all time, yet he had made it clear something bad would happen soon."_THE BATTLE__IS FAR FROM OVER POTTER."_ When and how she did not know but the words continued to ring in her head.

She had just made it out of the third floor corridor when a horde of professors ran right into her. McGonagall who was at the head of the group looked shocked to see her alive and well. "Miss Potter, what on earth is going on?" Hibiscus grinned darkly, "Voldemort is gone for now."

The professors all gasped in surprise. "What do you mean?" Asked one very shocked Flitwick. "He tried to steal the stone and I stopped him." Hibiscus replied. McGonagall decided that they would get nothing from her and waved her hand dismissively. "Miss Potter, I am going to have to ask that you go to the hospital wing while we all investigate this subject further."

Then Hibiscus watched as all of the teachers ran off to the third corridor. She was extremely surprised that they had allowed her to escort herself but then again, the hospital wing was just around the corner. Reaching into her pocket for her wand, Hibiscus felt parchment and remembered the letter.

Pulling it out and moving closer to a torch to read it her eyes widened and she dropped it to the ground, running away towards the direction of the forbidden forest.

The night was dark, the moon barely visible. Hibiscus ran through the courtyard and towards the bridge that led to Hagrid's hut. Many thoughts whirled through her mind, the first of which being Ronald Weasley. If he had truly read the letter then he would know about the attack being launched on Hogwarts from the forbidden forest. The question was why hadn't he said anything?

The next question she had was whether it was truly from her mother. This only provided further evidence that her mother was somehow alive and actively fighting against Lucretia Fleming. All Hibiscus knew was that she had to stop them somehow and Hagrid was the only one who could help her.

Moving out of the wooden bridge she came to the hill that led down to the forest and Hagrid's hut. Running as fast as she could Hibiscus ran down the path and didn't stop until she had reached his hut. The lights were all off and she felt her stomach plummet rapidly. He had conveniently decided to go the three broomsticks the night that Lucretia Fleming attacked the school and the ministry of magic.

Thinking quickly Hibiscus decided that she had to do this herself. What could a stupid second year do though? What did she have that could stop an army, then she remembered the Nundu, now fully grown. A paragraph from _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _popped into her head.

"_The Nundu__is a giant mammal similar to a leopard that is native to East Africa. It moves silently, despite its "gigantic" size, and is considered by some to be the most dangerous creature alive. The breath of the Nundu is toxic and filled with disease. This alone can wipe out entire villages of people. The Nundu is extremely hard to subdue, and has never been defeated by less than around one hundred wizards working together._"

Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood walked down the corridor of the hospital wing together. It was late at night, almost midnight and all of the professors had gone down to check on the Sorcerer's stone. "Do you think Hibiscus will be okay?" asked Luna. "I think that the professors are on their way and she is a powerful witch." Responded Hermione firmly.

At that moment she was walking Luna to the Ravenclaw tower. They turned a corner and kept walking until Luna gasped in surprise. Hermione turned around and saw Luna had fallen behind. "What is it Luna?" Hermione demanded crossly, scared that a wrackspurt had magically appeared in the corridor.

Luna however did not look up from the brown piece of parchment she was reading. Hermione was curious and walked over to the other girl. "What is it?" Instead of responding Luna merely held out the piece of parchment to Hermione. Instantly the other girl snatched it away and read what was on the page. Somehow this paper had a profound effect on Luna, so it had to be something big.

Hermione's eyes scanned over the parchment eagerly and she gasped. "Do you think Hibiscus read this?" Luna nodded. Then silently the two of them decided to race towards the forbidden forest in pursuit of their friend. The parchment once more forgotten on the ground.

"_I do not know when this letter will reach you Hibiscus, but there is a lot I need to tell you. There is little time and parchment for me to write all of the answers however. I must warn you that Lucretia Fleming is working for Voldemort. I fear that Voldemort has spies inside the school with you. Watch yourself and you will be safe. I have discovered that they are planning to launch an attack on the Ministry of Magic and then on Hogwarts on the last night of this month. _

_Your mother. _

Hermione and Luna ran out of the entrance hall doors right as a large _BOOM_ struck the forbidden forest and shook the earth for miles around. Hogwarts shuddered as thousands of pin pricks of light erupted from the forbidden forest. Luna tripped in surprise as Hermione gripped her arm to hold her up.

They stared out as the puzzle pieces of a mystery larger than Hogwarts unraveled. "Lucretia Fleming must have sent part of her army to attack the ministry in London and part of it here. The question is why." Luna tilted her head thoughtfully, "Maybe she wanted to get rid of Dumbledore so that she could gain control of Hogwarts."

"But what would she want from here. There isn't anything worth conquering but hostages." Then they both realized it at the same time, "The sorcerer's stone." But there were more questions. "How would she know about it? Quirrell must have been working for her this whole time." The two girls had realized Quirrell was helping Voldemort after they came to the hospital wing and all of the teachers but him were there.

The two girls looked out in horror as all sorts of inhuman sounds erupted from the forest.

Hibiscus had hoped that Hagrid would be able to round up the creatures of the forest. Unfortunately he wasn't there and now she would have to do it herself. First Hibiscus was going to start off with the centaurs. The daily prophet had shown Lucretia Fleming's army as being mainly composed of dark creatures. The second year was sure that the centaurs could do at least a bit of damage.

Then she would get her Nundu and fight to the best of her ability. Hibiscus tried to retrace her steps back to where Voldemort had attacked her, hoping desperately to come across Firenze. After a few minutes of walking she realized that she was deeper in the forest than she would like to be at night and held her wand tightly. Deciding that the centaurs were probably in this part of the forest she decided to use her Focus.

Quickly she tamed her other senses to nothingness and increased her hearing. There! Hooves galloping north of where she was, not too far away. But there was something else, a flick and scrape then a torch seemed to flare to life. As fast as she could Hibiscus began firing off _jinxes _and _hexes _while her other senses slowly returned.

Her hearing slowly dimmed while her ability to smell and taste returned, filling her nasal passage with a pungent scent. Her vision was just beginning to return when something gripped her shoulders with long talons and she was thrown into the dirt. A loud shriek pierced the air and she heard hooves approaching. Then they seemed to explode out behind her and began to trample something. Right in that moment Hibiscus regained her vision completely and she saw Firenze stomping on what appeared to be a possessed old woman.

Finally the woman seemed to stop fighting back and Firenze stopped. "What are you doing in this forest again? It is truly a very dark night." Hibiscus was only too happy to explain.

"The centaurs are already aware of the threat to Hogwarts." Firenze said, "The army of Lucretia Fleming is hiding in these woods and we have been effectively cutting them down." Hibiscus stared at him then decided he probably already knew, "I have a Nundu, I am sure it can help you all."

Firenze did not look surprised. "I am well aware of the Nundu; it is a dangerous creature that does not belong in this forest." Hibiscus scoffed, he was refusing advantageous help against a powerful adversary. "Then what else in this forest could possibly help you? I know for sure a single colony of centaurs cannot defeat an army of Hags, Werewolves, Vampires and whatever else Lucretia Fleming has to throw at us."

Firenze looked at her firmly and sighed in defeat. "You are right, but not about the Nundu." Hibiscus glowered at him. "Perhaps however," the centaur was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "They might help us." Hibiscus was confused, "Who?" Then right as the army of Lucretia Fleming lit their torches and descended upon Hogwarts he answered her.

"The Acromantulas." A boom struck the earth as the middle of the forest was ripped into the air.

Firenze had been very reluctant to go and see the Acromantula colony. The battle was beginning to grow. Everywhere they walked a horde of hags and vampires would jump from nowhere, claws and fangs extended. Whenever they looked around a tree centaurs were deep in battle with werewolves and harpies. Firenze had said that big boom might have been caused by a giant but he didn't seem too sure of it. All Hibiscus knew was that she hoped it wasn't true. With this came death from both sides and Hibiscus understood how awful it must be for Firenze to see his brother's fall like this.

Instead she had to urge him to continue on and they finally arrived in a part of the forest unoccupied by battle. It was dark, no light what so ever and Hibiscus had to cast several _Bluebell Flames _to light the way. Firenze began to follow an invisible path into the depths of the trees and she followed.

Then she walked straight into a giant spider web of sorts. Tiny spiders, medium spiders, big spiders scuttled around. Looking forward she saw something deeply unsettling, a spider the size of a car lay buried underneath a mountain of spider webs. "_Hello, centaur and succubus spawn."_ The thing spoke up, "I am sure you know what is happening right now and we need assistance protecting this forest." The huge spider clicked it's pincers as though it found this amusing. "_Why would I 'assist' your kind, you know how long we have wanted dominance over this forest. With you gone we could take control of your territory." _

The centaur seemed to have decided this would happen and he smiled darkly, "Mark my words Aragog, if you do not help us there will not be a forest to lust after. Lucretia Fleming is here and she has brought more than enough fire to burn us all." The spider seemed to consider him for a moment then chuckled again. "_Lucretia Fleming? That changes quite a few things." _Hibiscus was very confused as to how a spider who didn't read the daily prophet or talk to creatures out of his own colony of spiders knew about the werewolf-witch.

"How do you know about her?" Hibiscus asked. The spider king chuckled yet again and Hibiscus felt the urge to smash his pincers. "_Lucretia Fleming was believe it or not born in this forest, the wolf pack of Hogwarts is her family."_ then he turned to the centaur, "_Nevertheless I will aid your cause." _Hibiscus knew the story about the wolf pack of the forbidden forest; Hagrid had told her that two fully transformed werewolves mated on the full moon. This led to the birth of a pack of wolves with almost human intelligence maybe the circumstances had been different for Fleming somehow.

Firenze smiled for the first time since coming to this forest. "Thank you Aragog." Then he beckoned for Hibiscus to leave with him while he turned around. All of the spiders began scuttling up to them, blocking their path. "What is the meaning of this?" Firenze turned back around and demanded.

"_I said I would help your cause, I never said anything about helping YOU." _Chuckled Aragog. Hibiscus was enraged beyond belief. Those dratted spiders were coming closer while Aragog continued to chuckle. She had _not _survived Tom Riddle and a possessed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to die here.

Whipping out her wand she screamed, "_INCENDIO."_ A blast of flame flew through her wand and incinerated a patch of spiders. Firenze picked her up onto his flank and began galloping from spiders nest. The colony chased them however and Hibiscus was forced to fire _Reductor Curses _and _Smashing Hexes _along with the occasional _Incendio. _

Then they broke out of the Acromantula's section of the forest and back into the battle. A large group of Vampires stood over a dead centaur. Wicked grins were contorting their milky eyes and smooth heads in unpleasant ways as they brutally tore it to pieces. Before they even noticed the centaur and witch Hibiscus shot a _Bombarda _at them blasting them into trees and the dirt at breakneck speed.

The centaur continued galloping as she fired spells from his flank at unsuspecting victims. Then out of nowhere a _Knockback Jinx _struck her straight in the torso and she fell off of Firenze. Gasping for breath and holding her aching sides, Hibiscus saw Lucretia Fleming grinning madly at her from across the clearing.

Standing as fast as she could Hibiscus turned and ran the other direction, knocking a Snakeman out of the way with her telekinesis. She then kept running until she finally came to the place where her enchantments stood. A bunch of hags were over here, attacking a lone centaur and Hibiscus started firing nasty _Curses _at them until they were ended by the centaur's spear. "Go," Hibiscus hissed pointing towards the battle and he galloped away. Then she stepped through the wards and she found her pets.

The Nundu had grown vastly and while it would take a little bit longer for him to achieve his toxic breath, Hibiscus was not too concerned. He was now the size of two cement trucks and he could probably withstand all of these dark creatures combined. Grinning she stroked his fur and whispered what she needed him to do.

Then she heard a horn blast. No, impossible she thought wildly, thinking of what Firenze had told her of the Centaur's defenses. Hibiscus then realized that it _was _possible, if Lucretia Fleming was here then the centaur's defenses would not last long. That horn had blasted signaling that the dark creatures were moving on to Hogwarts.

Looking up at her Nundu, Hibiscus stared at him with a steely gaze, "It is up to us now."

Hermione and Luna ran down to the forest as the lights lit the forest. Why? They didn't know, all they did know however was that they needed to find Hibiscus. Screams and shouts could be heard from the forest as well as the sound of snarls and howls. Suddenly Luna caught her foot in a root and tripped.

A loud crack could be heard as her ankle twisted. "Luna," gasped Hermione, "Are you okay?" Luna whimpered in what Hermione assumed was pain. They were right at the edge of the forest and Hermione could her loud screams bouncing across the trees. "Is it broken?" she asked, Luna whimpered again and her eyes were looking at something behind Hermione.

Hermione was frustrated with the girl by now and was about to start screaming at her when Luna slowly pointed at something. Something behind Hermione. Slowly the bushy haired witch turned around, the wand in her hand clenched firmly. What she saw made her want to cry. Instead she tried to use her greatest talent, wit.

Luna was injured, Hermione would have to draw attention from her and get these monsters to chase her instead. Three werewolves stood in front of her, fangs barred. Hermione remembered something Hibiscus had told her. When you stayed calm in hostile situations your magic is stronger.

Quickly she thought of curses she knew and launched a _Reductor Curse _at the wolf in the middle of the trio. White light exploded into his chest and threw him into the dirt. Screaming at Luna she yelled, "RUN." She heard as the other girl began to hop out of the forest as fast as she could. "PROTEGO," she shouted in an attempt to block the swipe of one of the other werewolves. The beast smashed right through her magic and grazed her shoulder.

Hermione cried out at the pain and hit him right in the face with a _Sardine Hex, _somehow it worked and she took off in the other direction. Running and weaving through the trees Hermione sighed and wished she had taken Hibiscus's offer to learn _Blast Curses _early. Then she stopped and slid in the dirt to another tree and crouched.

The sound of the beasts chasing her was gone and she counted her blessings. Then out of nowhere a claw whipped into existence and sliced the part of the tree Hermione had been in front of. Hermione was gasping in fear and closed her eyes, ready to die. The only thing that happened however was a swish through the air. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw the most amazing thing.

Hibiscus heard the sound of rushing feet and battle cries. If the army was running in the direction of the castle they would come across her enchantments which would not hold out long. Quickly she whipped her wand out and said, "_Finite Incantatum." _Every single ward in the clearing dropped, allowing her pets to roam free.

"GO," she shouted at her Nundu, "STOP THEM ALL." The sounds of the hundreds of feet pattering and bobbing through trees were coming closer. Somehow her Nundu understood clearly and let loose a roar. Hibiscus was startled; it had never done that before. The sound seemed to echo through the forest over the noise caused by the opposing army.

Then her Nundu seemed to rear up on it's hind legs and it darted to the nearest patch of torchlight. Screams immediately followed in it's wake. Hibiscus then realized that torches were floating towards the clearing at a fast pace. Holding her wand she looked around and realized that Norbert and her unicorn were still there. Unsurprisingly the Nundu was so huge that the other two had blended into the background.

Running to her unicorn she yelled for it to fly away to safety. The creature immediately flew into the early morning sky. Hibiscus was relieved, and then she looked at Norbert and wished she could get him to help too. He didn't seem to be able to comprehend like her Nundu could. If only she could communicate with giant flying reptiles.

Then her eyes widened to a comical size and she realized something. Dragons were like snakes. Hibiscus had never tried and neither had Norbert to speak with one another. A hag ran into the clearing and Hibiscus shot a _Dazing Jinx _at it. A werewolf suddenly leapt in followed by half a dozen others. Hibiscus knew she could not take on seven werewolves together and she threw a _Blast Curse _she had learned from the restricted section in their general direction. Red flame erupted from thin air and several of the monsters squealed and dropped their torches, causing a fire to begin to spread in the grass.

One werewolf seemed to have gone through less of an intense transformation than the others and it held a wand. When Hibiscus turned to go and prevent Norbert from taking off in flight this particular werewolf shot a bolt of green light at her. Hibiscus threw herself into a roll then kept running while the bottle green spell crashed into a tree illuminating her face momentarily as it flared into green flame.

More monsters were running into the clearing while crashes of trees falling in the distance were heard, due to either her Nundu or Lucretia Fleming's supposed giant. Inhuman shrieks began to echo as Vampires jumped through the flame and chased her, fangs flashing. More Hags were crowing violently and throwing bloody daggers in her direction. All of this was not half as terrifying as when she saw all of the Harpies and the occasional Occamy flying towards Hogwarts.

The only thing that seemed to stop them were the arrows released into the air by the centaurs. Hibiscus was almost there, she only had to push herself a bit further and then there. The dragon was rearing up in preparation to fly away. The flames that spewed from it's nostrils were able to light some branches on fire because she had canceled that _Anti- Flame Charm_, an elementary enchantment.

Immediately she stopped and recalled a spell Professor Sinistra had used when a student had been held off of the Astronomy tower by a pair of Slytherins. "_Sonorous," _instantly she felt her vocal cords move around and she began speak parseltongue. "_NORBERT, I NEED YOUR HELP." _The dragon stopped trying to fly away and began to hiss, "_You speak it?" _Hibiscus found herself unable to respond because a knife flew from a Hag's hand and impaled itself deep in her left arm.

Screaming in pain she fell to the ground on her knees. Norbert seemed to realize she needed his help and he spun around, making indents in the ground. Hibiscus observed how the crowd of monsters was almost there as Norbert breathed a heavy, yellow flame at them. Several werewolves howled in pain while Hags simultaneously caught aflame. A Vampire leapt at Hibiscus and was incinerated midair.

Eventually the beasts decided to go another way instead of pursuing an inevitable death at the hands of a dragon. Hibiscus watched as the last few went other directions and scurried through the fire that encroached upon the clearing. Suddenly she heard hooves and saw that several centaurs were leaping over the fire and into the clearing. Firenze was at the head of the group and he saw Hibiscus lying in the dirt.

Quickly she brushed off the pain and stood, and then she ripped the blade out of her arm and choked in pain. Throwing it in the dirt she looked up at the centaur and saw he was furious. "HOW COULD YOU ALLOW THAT…? _BEAST_ INTO OUR FOREST?" He demanded. Hibiscus knew he was talking about the Nundu and probably about Norbert as well. Hibiscus glared at him and said nothing; she would not reiterate her points to him. Firenze realized this and snarled nastily, "You have done well for us in a time of need; only for that reason will I not trample you where you stand."

Hibiscus Potter merely glared at him. "But let me make something absolutely clear, if I see you have fallen in battle, I will not assist you. If Hogwarts is invaded, you will handle it yourself, for you have ruined all truces I have ever signed with Dumbledore along with the head of the Centaur colony."

Hibiscus didn't care and decided he needed reminding that this wasn't the time. "Isn't there a battle you should be part of Firenze?" He glared at her, "Yes Succubae spawn, there is." Then he trampled away and didn't look back.

Glancing up at Norbert she quickly hissed her new plan to him. The biggest threat was the opportunity the other side had for an aerial attack of Hogwarts. Hibiscus Potter had a dragon however and she would save Hogwarts, mark her words.

A centaur was rushing up behind the werewolves and then it shot them down with arrows. Hermione was relieved and she stood to thank him. "I appreciate that so much, thank you." Instead of responding however the centaur merely loaded it's bow and launched an arrow straight into Hermione Grangers shoulder.

A sound like running feet and all sorts of battle noises were approaching from the distance and Hermione saw a wave of torchlight banish the darkness. She collapsed into the tree and clutched the arrow buried in her shoulder. "I don't need your thanks wizard filth." Then he loaded another arrow and was about to release. Hermione closed her eyes and felt a tear leak out.

Then he pulled back and screamed in agony. Barks and howls filled the air as tearing and ripping mixed with growls. Hermione opened her eyes and saw at least ten wolves nipping at the centaur and crunching his legs. With a loud snap his front legs gave out under the powerful jaws and he promptly fell to the dirt floor. The sounds were coming closer and Hermione was able to distinguish the faces of an army of monsters.

Creatures she had only read about in the restricted section with Hibiscus and Cedric were in front of her. Hags, Vampires, and snake people who only appeared in the worst mythological stories ever written. The wolves suddenly stopped making noise and one of them walked over to her. It had sleek black fur and large, grey, intelligent eyes.

Gently it opened it's bloody muzzle and bit into her robes tugging as though urging her to follow. Hermione looked between the fast approaching army and the wolf pack than chose the lesser of two evils. Still holding her shoulder tightly and feeling like she would pass out Hermione raced after the black wolf and followed them. The wolves seemed to be skilled at avoiding the army and whenever an enemy crossed near them it was annihilated swiftly. Finally, Hermione realized that they had circled around the forest and that she was now at the mountains at the edge of the forest.

A burrow into the ground was visible and Hermione the wolves inside. Creating _Bluebell Flames_ she tossed them all around until she could see every inch of the cave. Then she screamed in surprise. There were at least eighty wolves in the cave, what really scared her was the woman sitting in the corner.

"Hello, Miss Granger, I have been expecting you since Talon told me of your arrival in the forest." She grinned. "Who are you?" Asked in pain, holding her shoulder and blinking away black spots in her vision. The woman was tall in stature with deep grey hair. She appeared to be about sixty or seventy and she had sharp animalistic features.

The woman pulled back her lips revealing her dangerously sharp canines. "I am the queen of the wolf pack; you may know me better for giving birth to Lucretia Fleming."

Hibiscus did not have any issue putting a psychotic redhead in his place. Nor did she have an issue battling a possessed teacher. However she did have an issue with scaling a very large Norwegian Ridgeback. To make matters worse not only did she have to scale said dragon but she also had to go to a battle in the sky with it.

Norbert or Norberta as she had discovered flew up above the forest. Several werewolves who were still able to do magic launched red bolts at the dragon, only to watch them fly back into a group of Hags. Hibiscus held tightly to a spike that was just above Norberta's head and clung for dear life.

The view she had from up here was amazing. All across the forest she could see centaurs still battling the beasts with the best they had, however she knew that it would not last that much longer. The Hogwart's student wondered whether the Acromantulas would still assist them.

Then she looked up at the school and saw a crowd of wizards were launching spells at incoming beasts. The hill on which Hagrid's hut was on the base of was swathed in fire from torches and fallen torches as beasts pressed forwards to battle centaur and get to the bridge that was guarded so heavily by the professors.

Across the BlackLake all sorts of fearsome creatures were speared down by the Merpeople, Hippocampus and the other inhabitants of the lake. Sea serpents and kappas were fighting just as viciously to gain control of the water surrounding Hogwarts. Hibiscus had not even considered that Lucretia Fleming would attempt to launch a naval attack.

Looking down she saw a massive tree fly out of the forest and crush at least twenty hags and centaurs decking it out. Then her Nundu emerged from the depths of the trees entangled in a vicious lock around a twenty five foot tall giant. Hibiscus swelled with a sense of pride that her Nundu was doing so well.

Finally she looked up in the direction Norberta was flying. Bird like beasts of all sorts were ripping at the towers of Hogwarts and anything else they came close to. Norberta flew over the large ravine that dug around Hogwarts and they were immediately overwhelmed on all sides. An Occamy surrounded by Harpies sliced it's talons at the dragon while the Harpies tore at it's wings.

Hibiscus recalled reading about the _Lightning Charm _but decided against it. Too powerful for her to even attempt and it could hit Norberta. Instead she launched _curses _and strong _hexes _at the birds. She watched as Norberta blew flame at the Occamy and Harpies, clearing out a good amount of them. Then she saw the Occamy swipe again and she decided to stop this once and for all.

Using her telekinesis Hibiscus snapped the Ocaamy's right wing, and then she started to do the same to all of the Harpies. Her energy was depleting quickly, but it was worth it. Every Occamy or Harpy she stopped was a loss to Lucretia Fleming's army. Surprisingly this aerial front was failing quickly. That is until much to her horror Hibiscus realized that Lucretia Fleming had somehow recruited a sphinx when it flew through the air at breakneck speed and crashed into Norberta violently. Hibiscus clung tightly to Norberta while she burned the sphinx to a blackened crisp.

Unfortunately Norberta still flew into the ground. Hibiscus slipped and slammed back onto earth violently. She watched as the dragon flew down the hill and crashed into a tree. Multiple beasts immediately began attacking her. Hibiscus decided that Norberta was fine however when she stood and breathed flame onto her adversaries.

Hibiscus was covered in blood and dirt, her golden hair was tangled into knots and clumps while hanks of it had been snatched off by her foes. Her arm that had been stabbed was numb and to make matters worse her magical core was nearly depleted. She was after all only a first year and she had pushed herself to accomplish amazing feats this evening.

Looking around and firing off spells she realized she was right in the middle of the battle. Hags crumpled beneath her wand and Vampires hissed before she did everything she could to prevent them from biting her. Then she saw her. Lucretia Fleming grinning sadistically and throwing a curse straight at her.

Hermione was shocked to say the very least as she found herself walking next to Imogene Fleming. Part werewolf, part mother to wolves across the world, werewolves included. "My daughter chose some very dark paths." Imogene sighed, "I taught her all of the magic I had learned at Hogwarts in my youth and then she left the forest." Hermione listened intently, still shocked about everything. "All of her brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews were wolves. Her father and I had her after Dumbledore allowed my family to live in this forest." The old woman continued walking next to Hermione. "My daughter then left to travel the world, maybe even find a mate so she could settle down. Instead she came home…_Dark_."

Hermione was beginning to regain her ability to think and asked, "How so?" The seventy year old werewolf sighed and shook her gray head of hair. "She came back with this knowledge of magic. Magic I had never taught her. We discovered the horrific truth the same week she returned."

The woman looked around at the seventy wolves surrounding them; ten had been left behind to watch all of the cubs. Apparently Imogene could communicate with the wolves.

"It was a dark night, the full moon. Ministry officials had tracked Lucretia back to our home. It turned out she was a special operative for Lord Voldemort and she had attempted to assassinate the minister of magic."

Hermione's mouth was agape, then she didn't even have time to shriek in surprise as a Vampire leapt straight into the midst of the wolves and was torn apart. Imogene did not even glance at the scene in front of her and she continued with her story, a haunted look in her eyes. "My daughter killed three of ten Aurors, my husband went into the moonlight to stop her, they shot him down after he shifted with _stunners. _My husband was no longer as young as he used to be and he passed away. Lucretia merely used the commotion to run away."

Hermione stared at her then realized they were standing in front of a battle field. Norbert stood spewing flame at creatures from all sorts of nightmares, while her teachers stood firm throwing spells at said beasts. Imogene smiled at her, "It is time we help our fellow comrades stop my daughter." Then the wolf pack howled and ran off to assist the centaurs.

"_Protego," _Hibiscus shouted, a shield deflected the blue light into a Hag. Lucretia frowned and threw a green light at her. Hibiscus ducked and it flew into a crowd of Vampires behind her, erupting into a green fire. Hibiscus stood and instantly fell again to duck another _Curse _then she rolled to the side because of a _Hex _and she had to put up a _Shield _to block a black-yellow _Hex. _A Vampire tried to bite Hibiscus until she swiped him away with her telekinesis.

Hibiscus now only had enough strength left for a few powerful curses. Spinning around she noticed Lucretia Fleming directly in front of her. "Hello pretty, you have grown since I last saw you…" Then the werewolf opened her mouth, fangs extending and she tried to take a bit out of Hibiscus. Instead Hibiscus heard a very familiar voice shout, "_Relashio." _

Lucretia Fleming was torn away and thrown a few paces away into the dirt. Hermione ran up to Hibiscus and both of them watched as an old woman walked forwards. She had grey hair and she was surprisingly tall for someone so old. "Lucretia, how you have grown over these _many _years." Lucretia tossed back her jet-black curls and scowled at the woman. "Imogene, you are still the same sack of bones you were years ago."

Hermione and Hibiscus had to stop watching because a Werewolf tried to swipe at them. Before Hibiscus could do anything Hermione had her wand out and the Werewolf was thrown into the thick of the battle. "You have picked up some tricks." Hibiscus commented. "Thanks, Imogene taught me some spells." Then she threw up a shield to block a knife thrown by a Hag.

They looked back and saw that Lucretia and Imogene were locked in a fearsome battle. All imaginable colors flew from their wands, blue, black, red, and purple; if you could name it then it was thrown at the two witch-werewolves. Hibiscus and Hermione tried to watch as best they could but foes continued to attack them. Then Hibiscus began to feel weak. She had just shot a well aimed _Knockback Jinx _into the face of a forest Troll that had been battling several centaurs.

Hermione grabbed her before she fell and set her gently on the ground. Hibiscus saw that she had clear vision of Imogene and Lucretia Fleming now. Her head was spinning and she saw a Hag toss a knife in the elderly woman's direction. It struck home and Imogene was hit by a powerful _Curse _from Lucretia. Lucretia Fleming held up her wand and prepared for the final blow.

Hermione however ran towards the scene, leaving Hibiscus behind. Hibiscus watched as Hermione grabbed Imogene by the shoulder and cried out as she saw Lucretia Fleming's face contort into a snarl before the two were _Banished _down the side of the hill. Hibiscus Potter was truly surrounded by enemies now and she saw Firenze in the distance. He sliced down a Vampire and looked at her lying on the side of the hill.

Then he merely avoided eye contact with her and moved on. Hibiscus Potter pushed herself to her feet and locked eyes with Lucretia. She swayed dangerously, almost too dizzy to support her own weight. A cackle seemed to leave Lucretia's throat, but Hibiscus could not hear it, or anything. A buzzing filled her ears and drowned out the sounds of the battle.

The witch tossed back her black curls across her shoulders and pointed her wand directly at Hibiscus. A bolt of green seemingly poured out of the wand and flew towards the girl's face. Somehow, she found the strength to raise her wand, somehow she recalled a bit of text from the summer in _A Beginner's Guide to Necromancy._ Then somehow, she screamed the incantation, "_Voluntati Relinquereteur Lapis." _A hag turned to stone and fell in front of the green light. The same green flame danced in the air.

Hibiscus's eyes began to roll into her eyes as she felt her wand begin to crack and break in her palm. Screams continued to fill the air as she fell face first into the dirt.

Hermione Granger watched from the bottom of the hill as her friend cast a dark spell. It seemed as though all of the beasts around her were turning into, well…Stone. Next to Hermione lay Imogene. Whatever _Curse _had been launched at her was causing her to shake as though she was having a seizure.

A mountain troll near Hibiscus seemed to turn to stone and then it fell backwards. Smashing different monsters to pulps, it eventually broke to pieces and stopped rolling. Hermione was frightened for Hibiscus. Whatever spell she had just cast was powerful dark magic. She only hoped that Hibiscus realized the consequences of using those kinds of spells.

Then she saw Hibiscus fall forwards in an unconscious heap. That was not what drew her attention however. All of the beasts that attempted to even touch her seemed to contort and twist until they were solid stone. Despite this it was still a losing battle, Hibiscus's magic was losing effectiveness as the enemy learned to avoid her completely.

There were at least two hundred monsters left on the battlefield. Then a blast of magic exploded from the side of the hill and Hermione watched as a _Blast Curse _cast by a werewolf swiped a group of centaurs into a roll. Suddenly a horn blasted and all remaining centaur began to flee into the forest. Hermione looked at them in shock as they gathered together and left the professors of Hogwarts, the wolf pack and Norbert to fight the remaining monsters.

"COWARDS," Hermione screamed until her voice cracked. The centaurs probably could not hear over the sounds of battle and clomping hooves. All looked bleak. Hibiscus was passed out and Hermione had to stay with a gravely injured Imogene, she swore she had seen one of the professors fall to the ground dead, but that could have been any flicker of the imagination. But the worst was the fire, it was everywhere.

Splattered across the hills and over the many bodies. Even Hagrid's hut, a place she had felt so safe in before was burning to a crisp. Hermione watched as another boom of a _Blast Curse _exploded on the hill. A Hag threw a knife at Hermione and she barely put up a shield in time. Then a wolf came over and bit into her shins until the leg snapped and it could pounce.

Hermione did not even flinch. She was so accustomed to seeing death that nothing about it made her feel uncomfortable. The wolf soon finished and ran off to another victim. Imogene began shaking and shuddering again. Hermione merely held her closer and made sure she could breathe.

Then she heard a smashing sound and the trees falling and knocking into each other. The Giant had returned minus the lion like thing that had been attacking it earlier. The battle was lost. Hermione just stared at the awful sight in front of her. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of years Hogwarts had stood, now it was crushed by darkness.

Then she heard it, hooves trampling towards the woods. Looking over towards the plains that surrounded every inch of land that wasn't covered by the forest she saw the morning light coming in. Vampires hissed and fled into the woods while their allies stood around the defenders of Hogwarts.

Hermione noticed something odd. That had to be Hibiscus's unicorn flying in the air, right? Then she saw other unicorns, running with their horns pointed towards the foe. The sun glinted off their silver horns, making it appear as though the sun was coming to their rescue. Hermione cried out in exultation. Tears running down her face as she clutched her shoulder that had been shot by an arrow.

The giant stood tall as the hoof beats became louder and louder. Then out of thin air a giant leopard came streaking onto the battlefield. It opened it's mouth and snarled at the giant while a scarlet haired woman jumped off it's back. The leopard lunged at the Giant and the two were instantly wrestling in a deadly battle.

The woman charged with the unicorns and began to dominate the dark army. Instantly the Hags and other atrocities fought back as their own were gored by the unicorns. Hermione heard a loud gurgle envelope the war field as the leopard slashed it's claws down the Giants throat.

The dark beings and beasts seemed to realize the battle was lost and they fled out the forest to return to the safety of their homes. Hermione laughed in joy, unaware that this battle would change many things in the wizarding world.

Hibiscus awoke with a start. Mist covered every inch of the ground and there were no fires to be seen. Standing shakily she saw her wand was split in half on the ground. Groaning angrily she spun around after pocketing it, only to be met with Lucretia Fleming.

She screamed, the sound seemingly echoed for miles. Then she realized that the werewolf was pure stone. Recalling the spell she had cast in her delirious state she stumbled up the hill to the bridge. Walking over it she looked saw all sorts of dead, bird like beasts. Shaking her head and trying to recall what had happened the night prior she realized she did not know.

Deciding that the only way to find out would be to find out she walked to the courtyard and then to the great hall. Apparently it was breakfast and only three professors sat at the table. All of the students turned there eyes and watched her while she continued on to the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey stood over the beds of two very injured girls. The first being Hermione, the second being Luna. "Hibiscus," Luna cried out happily. Hibiscus realized that Cedric was nowhere to be seen. "Young lady, where have you been? When the professors did a body count you were missing." Madame Pomfrey gasped, affronted by Hibiscus's mere prescence. Turning to her Hibiscus sighed brokenly, "Accomplishing things you could _never _think of." Madame Pomfrey would not be deterred from her attempt to break the girl and grinned nastily, "You are in quite a bit of trouble young lady. In fact Professor Dumbledore demanded me to send you to him if you arrived here."

Hibiscus groaned and waved to her friends, noting that Hermione had not acknowledged her prescence at all. Walking down the hallways she passed the third floor corridor where it all had begun. Finally she arrived at the Gargoyles that guarded Dumbledore's office. "Password," they croaked. Hibiscus realized she didn't know the password. "LISTEN YOU BLOODY TARTS. I HAVE BEEN OUT BATTLING AN ARMY ALL NIGHT. IF ANYONE DESERVES TO GO INTO THIS OFFI CE IT IS FUC-." A hand landed on her shoulder and prevented her from speaking any further words.

"Such language Miss Potter." The voice drawled lazily. "Oh not you, you greasy haired-." Professor Snape said loudly, "LEMON DROPS." The Gargoyles swung aside and Hibiscus observed the gashes on his face. Had he been in the battle last night?

"I suggest that you postpone your admiration of my face and go to your meeting with Dumbledore. It is quite _urgent _you receive his news." Snape snickered. Hibiscus glared at him and walked up the spiraling staircase.

Then she opened the door hesitantly. Dumbledore's office was as cluttered as it was at the beginning of the year. A woman with vivid scarlet hair sat in a chair in front of the desk and a man sat on the other side of her, he had black hair and smooth tan skin. An empty chair in between them was aligned with Dumbledore who sat behind his desk.

The woman turned around and Hibiscus was shocked to see her mother. She looked similar to the pictures that Hibiscus had seen in Hagrid's hut. However Hibiscus had a feeling that her mother had gone through a similar physical transformation as what she had done this winter break.

"Hibiscus?" Her mother asked, Hibiscus relished her mother's sweet voice. "My baby." The woman began crying and rushed over to her. Hibiscus had known since that letter that her mother was alive, a bit before that maybe. She had just refused to believe it. If she had believed it she would have to accept that her mother had left her with the Dursley's, not spoken with her for eleven years and had missed part of her life.

Pushing down anger Hibiscus instead tried to tell herself her mother was alive and she should be happy. "Ahem," Dumbledore coughed, "I hate to break up this reunion, however there is grave news to be discussed." Hibiscus slowly and reluctantly pulled herself from her mother's arms and sat in the middle seat. "Pardon me," Albus yawned, "For yawning; a lot has happened this evening and morning prior."

Hibiscus agreed with him whole heartedly. "Where to start? Perhaps with the story your mother told me." Dumbledore nodded and frowned. "Hibiscus, I am sure you know the story of the night Voldemort attacked your family?" Hibiscus did not bother answering. "I thought that I did too, until your mother sent me an owl and warned that there would be an attack on the ministry yesterday." Hibiscus looked at her mother then back at Dumbledore. "I arrived at the ministry and realized that dark beings such as Hags, Vampires and Werewolves that were under the control of Lucretia Fleming were attempting to assassinate the Minister for Magic. Along with the occasional Giant or two."

Hibiscus blinked out the images of the awful creatures he had listed. "After a long and mighty battle the Minister was alive and well and an owl came to me early that morning. It was from a Miss Lovegood, telling me about the attempt by Voldemort to steal the stone." Hibiscus looked at him intently. "More owls came before I left and so did Professors, telling me that Lucretia Fleming had attacked Hogwarts."

Hibiscus had deduced already that Lucretia Fleming had been working for Voldemort. Before she could open her mouth he sighed, "I am well aware of Voldemort's entanglement in this affair. Miss Granger rescued an old friend of mine from the battle." Then he looked at her closely, "Personally I wish to thank you, for the courageous acts I have heard you performed for this school. However I am afraid that I must inform you that upon further inspection by the board of Hogwarts governors you are suspended from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for a year."

Hibiscus was startled and looked at her mother angrily, "Why aren't you arguing against this?" Then she raised her palm against the desk and tried to release her telekinetic rage on his worthless knickknacks. Nothing happened, in fact, upon further investigation Hibiscus realized her magical core was not present at all. Hiding her shocked emotions she looked up at Dumbledore who smiled sadly. "I tried everything to help you Hibiscus, the only thing that kept them from expelling you was your status as the girl who lived."

"The reason for your suspension is as follows," recited Dumbledore, "Upon inspection of the trace on one missing Hibiscus Potter following the attack of Lucretia Fleming it was determined that she had used _Necromantic Spells. _This magic has been banned at Hogwarts since the dismissal of dark curriculum in the year of 1876. After speaking with staff around the school it was also determined she used magic against one caretaker, Argus M. Filch. This was in the form of a _Knockback Jinx. _After a warrant had been achieved from the Minister for Magic to perform an exam of the magic she used in the past week, she has been connected to breaking almost twelve other Hogwarts rules.

On this day of June, First, 1991, we the board of Governors for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry execute the decision to suspend one Miss Hibiscus Lillian Potter."

Hibiscus had had so much planned, she would move on to her third year with Hermione. Then they would fill out their syllabus with every single class split evenly between the two of them so they could teach each other and take all of the classes offered for third years. Then there was Quidditch, and this summer she had planned on taking a class on underwater spellage with Cedric and Luna.

"Where will I go to school?" She asked tiredly, the past few hours catching up to her. Dumbledore inclined his head to the man sitting to her left; she had barely noticed him at all. "Hibiscus, this Nicholas Flamel. He will be your new instructor." The man grinned at her with a brilliant flash of his teeth. Hibiscus just reached into her pocket and pulled out the long forgotten Sorcerer's stone. "This is more trouble than it is worth."

Hello! This was seriously long and there will probably be like a ton of mistakes. A lot of action this chapter, I just hope there are not any loose ends. Hibiscus will get some answers from her mom in the next chapter. I am thinking of a sequel called, "What My Father Gave Me" Tell me what you think by reviews, favorites or following my story.

Next Chapter: Farewell to Old Friends and His Return.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One: Farewell to Old Friends and His Return.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

Hibiscus was unsure what to say as she exited the headmaster's office with her mother. Perhaps she could start off with a brisk, 'Haven't seen you in a while…' Or maybe she could say, 'Nice to meet you, my name is Hibiscus.' Apparently she didn't have to say anything. Lily Potter turned around and looked down at Hibiscus. More tears were in her eyes and the sun shone through a window illuminating her mother unnaturally.

She shook her head and recognized just why the beauty was so unnatural, her mother had long completed the process of Fulfillment. Hibiscus had only begun it to survive Tom Riddle yet it had changed her in many ways, physically and mentally. "Honey," her mother cried, "You are so beautiful and brave. Severus did _not _do you justice." Hibiscus did a double take and stared at her mother. "_YOU _know _SNAPE." _

Lily smiled sheepishly and looked down, her scarlet locks swishing around her head. "We should talk about some things." Reaching out she gently guided Hibiscus to sit on a stone bench on the side of the hallway with her. "Where to begin, where to begin?" Lily muttered, tucking some of her hair over her shoulder. "The beginning," suggested Hibiscus.

Her mother giggled sadly, "You have your father's sense of humor." Propping her elbow on the window sill and turning so she could watch the students exit breakfast she began her story. "I remember when I was little I could do things no one else could." Her eyes became cloudy with distant memory.

"Before Hogwarts, before everything, I was just a little girl who didn't understand herself." Lily reached out and held Hibiscus's hand. "When I went to Hogwarts I discovered things I could do that no one else could. Severus Snape and I were best friends, the best of friends. In him I confided the darkest things I was learning about myself."

"Telekinesis, Compulsion, every thing a succubae could hope to learn I faced my first and second years." Lily sighed. "Then third year I discovered what I was, the memory clear as though it was yesterday." She gripped Hibiscus's hand tighter and said, "I was on the beach of the Black Lake, reading a book from the restricted section on dark beings and beasts."

"The book detailed the succubus and Lilith. I told Severus instantly and we researched the deity thoroughly." Her eyes closed and she shuddered. "Samhain was around the corner and I wanted to do a ritual. Severus advised against it, telling me how tricky and deadly the deities could be." Hibiscus watched her intently.

"I didn't listen to him."

"Lilith seemed so beautiful and eager to answer my questions at first. Then she became dark, telling me things I didn't want to hear. When I began the banishment ritual she broke through my wards and claimed I was her daughter." Lily was still shaking. "I managed to finish the incantation and remove her prescence, but she didn't like that."

"When I returned home over the summer, I immediately questioned my father. He told me everything." Hibiscus felt anticipation building in her stomach. "After Petunia was born he went on a foreign business trip and met an enticing woman in a bar, her name was… Lilith." Lily was obviously pained to repeat this. "After he had…Been with her he realized something was wrong when she called him flesh of Merlin."

Hibiscus did not know what to say, but her mother seemed to. "I told my mother right away. I was disgusted with my father for falling for Lilith's ploy," a fly buzzed around her head and Lily slapped at it. "Their marriage was already strained and my mother did not move back into the house for a month. Petunia blamed me of course and our sisterhood was never the same again."

"Of course I was able to connect almost all of the dots to Lilith's plan with the research I had done." She finally opened her eyes and Hibiscus watched her intently. "Merlin banished her to the otherworld and placed spells on the species to prevent them from invading Britain. Even though the succubus pushed him away from their homeland by corrupting Morgana Lefay they were weakened considerably." She paused for a deep breath.

"My father must have been descended from a squib directly born from Merlin's line. By projecting herself to this world through the use of a ritual, she slept with him, knowing fully well that I would be free of Merlin's magic and I could begin a new line of British succubae. When a succubus mates with a man she places the egg into him and he then sends it into another woman who then conceives the child which meant I would easily pass as an Evans." The green eyes were filled with a fury that Hibiscus could not comprehend.

"What she must not have planned on was that I would manage to fight her influence so easily. In her rage she sent her husband Beelzebub to… Destroy me." Hibiscus listened with rapt attention. "I managed to subdue him though and like Merlin did to Lilith before me I fully banished his essence to the other world."

"During this time Voldemort was on the rise. Your father and I fought him to the best of our ability, until he came for you twelve years ago." She was now to the part that had led to the twelve years of no contact with her child. "My powers had grown considerably and Voldemort had not faced a foe like me before. He managed to subdue me however, but before he could," she gasped deeply, "Kill you, something like accidental magic seeped from my soul and saved you."

"I knew what the ministry would do if they discovered how dark I was so I fled. I was also aware that Voldemort was still out there and then my hunt began. I discovered that Voldemort had spies in the school this year so I had the only person I could trust look after you, Snape." Hibiscus was so overwhelmed, her mother hadn't abandoned her. Lily Potter had been protecting her for the passed decade. Throwing her arms around her mother she started crying. "I don't want to hear anymore, I love you mum." They embraced until Lily announced that she had to leave and sort out affairs with the ministry and Gringott's.

Hibiscus stood in Hogsmeade with her trunk. The Board of Governors had shown up randomly and demanded she leave the premise. The eleven year old girl had tried to say goodbye to Hermione but the witch refused to speak with her when Hibiscus tried to avoid telling the truth again. Cedric, who had been sitting in the hospital wing with her two friends also refused to speak to her.

In the end Luna had been the only one to promise to write her. Hibiscus sighed and tossed back her golden hair, staring at her reflection in a puddle. Memories rose unbidden from winter break.

_The waves crashed against the rock outside as Tom forced the awful liquid down her throat. "Please," she begged, "Please Tom. No more." Tom laughed darkly and stroked her face and laughed mirthfully. Another spoonful of the light green liquid was shoved down her throat, then he stopped and she fell back into her nightmares of the Dursleys. _

_She heard a clink of a chain as he removed whatever was in that crystal basin. The potion must be wearing off, she thought just as she was pushed back into another bout of terrors. She was sitting in a chair reading a book. Lilith came from the wall and cackled, "You called for me child." Hibiscus was desperate, she wanted out of this false world of evil. "Help. Help me please." _

_The beautiful woman tossed back her head of beautiful hair and smiled wickedly. "All you need is here." Hibiscus looked down at the book, trying to read what she could before the Dursleys came for her again. _

_"__The succubae talent of Fulfillment is a coming of age for all succubae. This is when a young woman opens her connection to Lilith in order to gain her full power." Hibiscus felt the book fall from her hands and she found herself looking into a cracked mirror. "Do you accept me," her reflection demanded, "Will you pay the price to me for my help?" The Dursleys flashed in her vision again and Hibiscus decided that she needed all of the help she could get to stop Tom Riddle." _

_She nodded and the reflection changed. Her hair lost it's red and became pure gold, her features sharpened and she grew taller. Her eyes became even greener than before as she began to resemble something terrifying, a young Lilith. Hibiscus screamed and sat up drenched in sweat. Tom Riddle clutched a locket and his eyes flickered to her just as she tackled him. _

_The locket was ripped from his palm and into her hand as she grabbed her wand from his pocket. He screamed for help and animated corpses shot from the water. She threw flame at them and jumped in the boat. Her magic felt stronger than ever. She reached land and ran to the gap in the wall. The stone slowly slid inwards and she saw Tom Riddle. His corporeal flesh stood out in the darkness. "Do you pay the price?" The voice echoed and she nodded. The stone sealed as Tom Riddle was banished from her life. _

_Slowly she stumbled out of the cave and saw light breaking through the dark sky. How she envied that there could be such light hidden behind the darkest of clouds. _

Hibiscus stared at the reflection in the murky puddle and screamed when she saw Tom Riddle grinning at her. People looked at her like she was a lunatic which she probably was. Lilith had sworn that Tom Riddle would not bother her again if Hibiscus began her process of Fulfillment. Looking back at it she saw there was no one in the puddle and took a deep breath, telling herself that Tom Riddle was gone.

But a part of her knew that Tom Riddle was back and it had gotten the message. He was here and intended to stay.

Hello! I am sorry if there are still unanswered questions. Review and tell me and I will answer them in the last chapter! Or you can just follow and favorite my story, I'm cool with whatever.


	22. Chapter 22

Part Two.

Chapter One: Domestic Violence at Privet Drive and a Sluggy Old Teacher.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J.K. Rowling or her publishing company.

_FOUR MONTHS LATER _

Privet Drive of Little Whinging lay quiet and tranquil. Families sat in front of their tellies, settling down for the night after their eventful days. The Dursleys were the only exception of course. The 'normal' family was watching their 'normal' son throw quite a 'normal' tantrum.

"BUT MUM, I WANT ANOTHER COMPUTER." Dudley Dursley screamed his face wet and red while his quadruple chin quivered. "Sweetheart, we will get you a new one tomorrow-," Petunia Dursley was cut off by the loud _thwack _of her son swiping the wall ferociously with his Smelting's stick. "I WANT IT NOW." He demanded.

Vernon Dursley sighed, "Petunia, he has been a good boy today, and I still feel awful that the freak ruined his last birthday." Dudley grinned happily as his mother said, "Let's get ready to go, does that sound fine Diddy-Dumms." He nodded and stomped to his room for his coat. As soon as he vanished up the steps a loud _crack _echoed from outside. Petunia shot up, she had heard that sound many times.

The doorbell rang soon after, she scowled, those freaks just couldn't leave her and her precious family alone. Striding towards the door the woman yanked it open and started saying, "If you want us to take that little freak back we will _not, _under no circumstances will she ever come back into my home again."

The woman stopped and looked at who was actually standing on the porch and screamed. Then she promptly fell backwards and passed out on the floor. Standing on the porch was a quite unsurprised Hibiscus Potter and her mother. Lily scowled and stepped inside the house, pulling the door shut behind her when Hibiscus entered. Vernon Dursley tromped into the hallway as his son came down the stairs.

"_YOU," _they hissed simultaneously pointing their fat fingers at Hibiscus. Then Vernon looked from his fallen wife to her very-much-alive-sister. "How in the bloody hell are you still alive. We have watched over your little mistake of a child while you have been off gallivanting around?" He asked quite aggressively, his face turning a deeper shade of purple with every word.

Lily whipped her wand up and said with a voice that could have chilled winter to it's bone, "You will shut your mouth now if you know what is good for you Vernon, or I will ensure that you will never have one to shut again." He gulped and grabbed his wife, pulling her quickly into the living room. The two Potters slowly walked around the corner in his pursuit. Vernon stood in the corner of the room with the telephone to his ear, talking to the police about a home invasion.

Hibiscus grinned as her mother flicked her wand and the phone exploded into pieces. Vernon Dursley squealed in fright, falling to the ground the ground on his bum. "The p-p-olice are on their way, you better s-scram you f-f-frightful freaks," he stuttered. Lily tilted her head mockingly and pointed her wand at Petunia, "I'll be quick then. _Ennervate." _Petunia shot up and looked at Lily fearfully. "How are you still alive?" Lily glowered at her sister. "That is beside the point, for _eleven _years you treated my daughter, your niece, atrociously."

"How could I not?" Petunia demanded, "I knew she would be a _perfect _little freak just. Like. You." Lily looked hurt at every dagger-like word. Petunia didn't stop there, "Besides, how _dare _you walk into my home and demand that I fulfill sisterly duties when we aren't even sisters." Lily scoffed, Hibiscus noticed her knuckles turn white as she gripped her wand tightly, "Your definition of sister seems to be off Petunia, we unfortunately share the same father. Besides, it was not a matter of sisterly duties but _human decency _you bag of spoiled prunes."

Turning to Hibiscus Lily asked, "Do you need anything from here sweetie?" Hibiscus shuddered, "I don't want anything from my cupboard." Lily frowned, "_Your _cupboard?" Hibiscus nodded and pointed to the cupboard under the stairs. "That is where I slept." Lily's vivid green eyes became livid and she screamed, whipping her wand everywhere as she unleashed her hatred for her sister with magic instead of mere words this time. All of the Dursley's furniture came to life and stampeded around the house. The walls cracked and the lights flicked on and off while the tacky white curtains swished violently open and closed. "YOU COULDN'T EVEN GIVE MY CHILD HER OWN BEDROOM PETUNIA. YOU WILL DIE."

Blue lights were flashing outside of the house, the police had arrived. Hibiscus grabbed her mother's sleeves and dragged her up the steps; policemen were trying to break the door down. Vernon Dursley chased them, encouraged by the sudden occurrence of the police. Petunia stood in her living room screaming violent threats and insults at her sister and niece. The two women ran up the stairs and around the corner of the second floor just as the police men broke the door down and entered the home.

Hibiscus knew that her mother couldn't apparate while Vernon Dursley was close enough to latch onto on of them, so she reached for Dudley's bedroom door and opened it, shoving her mother in and slamming it shut, then she locked it as quickly as she could. Dudley however happened to be inside and began to scream. The police were now in front of the bedroom door and began knocking it down. "Hibiscus, I need you to trust me," Lily said urgently. Hibiscus watched as her mother grabbed her arm and flicked her wand at the wall opposite them. "_BOMBARDA." _

The door was splintering as the wall furthest from Hibiscus and her mother exploded outwards; Dudley Dursley cowered in the cloud of dust and plaster that followed. With a loud creak the door cracked inwards. The police began firing just as Lily pulled Hibiscus to the other side of the room and threw herself and Hibiscus out of the now gaping hole in the side of the house. Hibiscus wanted to vomit as she felt her state of being twisting and contorting while they grew closer and closer to the ground, then they vanished into what the police statements could later only call, thin air.

The flat in London was a very welcome change from the Dursley home. Hibiscus walked over to the sofa in the middle of the room and flopped down, exhausted. Lily sat down next to her and wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders and pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry I pulled you into the middle of my fight with Petunia," her mother apologized. Hibiscus hugged her mother back and muttered into the woman's hair, "Trust me, it was more worth it than you will ever know mum. Especially when Petunia fainted." Lily laughed, "That _was _the best part, wasn't it? I wish it hadn't taken me this long to get the courage to go and face that spiteful cow though."

A few minutes later the fireplace in the corner of the apartment flashed green and Remus Lupin stepped out, holding takeout dinner from The Dancing Warlock's pub in Diagon Alley and a carton of ice cream from Florean Foretescue's ice cream parlor for dessert. Lily stood and grinned at him as the three of them sat at the table in the dining room. "How did your trip to your sister's go?" The werewolf asked curiously. Hibiscus interjected before Lily could play it down. "Four muggle police officers came and shot at us before we apparated from a crater in the side of their house." Lupin glared at Lily from across the table, but before he could say anything she asked, "Did you get enough food for four people like I asked?"

He nodded as Hibiscus asked, "Who else is having dinner with us," then as an afterthought she added, "This time." Her mother smiled, "Horace Slughorn." Remus Lupin groaned and slapped his hands over his face angrily. "Why Lily? You could have invited anyone but him." Lily's expression hardened as she slapped her hand on the table, "Think for once Remus. Slughorn has numerous contacts in the ministry of magic. The sooner we establish the date of Sirius's trial the sooner we get him out of Azkaban. Slughorn can only help," then as an afterthought, "Besides, Fudge has been blocking me at every turn, he knows a retrial for Sirius will reflect poorly on the Ministry."

Remus sighed and nodded reluctantly. Hibiscus had stopped asking questions about a month ago when her mother had begun inviting many influential friends and powerful contacts over for dinner, this was all part of an elaborate scheme to reestablish her standing in the wizarding world _and _get Sirius Black released from Azkaban. Her thoughts were turned away from all of this when the fireplace exploded green and died down.

A pudgy walrus of a man stumbled out of the hearth and smiled at Lily so happily Hibiscus thought his face would split to pieces. He waddled over to the table and pulled the now standing Lily into a hug. "I was so exulted when I heard the news that you were safe and alive Lily." Slughorn grinned. Then he looked at Hibiscus and said in a whisper, "In the name of Merlin, Hibiscus Potter before my very own eyes if I live and breathe."

Then he sat down completely ignoring Remus. "So Lily," Slughorn casually began, "Does Hibiscus have your skills in potions?" Lily smiled in her daughter's direction boastfully before eagerly saying, "Of course, she can already brew the Draught of Unease." Slughorn's eyes seemed to pop out of his head, Hibiscus quickly rolled her eyes, if only her mother knew of all of the illegal she could brew. "But that is a fourth year level potion." He turned and looked at Hibiscus hesitantly until it seemed as though his curiosity got the best of him.

"I heard that you were expelled from Hogwarts after the Battle of the Forbidden Forest. I can't believe the board of governors would do you such an injustice after all you fought for that night." Hibiscus sighed; he had to go and bring that up, didn't he? Memories from the past four months flooded into her head. The week after Lucretia Fleming attacked Hogwarts people took to calling it the Battle of Hogwarts and rumors had sprung up that a barely twelve year old Hibiscus Potter had fought in it and successfully defeated Lucretia Fleming. Of course, it eventually came out through eyewitness reports of unnamed professors that she _had _in fact partaken in the battle.

Hibiscus shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "I don't like to talk about it." He surprisingly took her response as an answer and asked no further questions on the topic. The girl however could not let the topic go and was frustrated he had brought it up in the first place. Whenever she was reminded of the Battle of the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts she recalled all of the bits and fragments of her life that it was ensnared with.

These all of course included her loss of magic, friends who refused to respond to her owls and the fact that she hadn't been able to look at red without being reminded of all the blood she had seen at the Battle of the Forbidden Forest. "Has she received her exam results yet?" Lily smiled at Slughorn and said, "Hibiscus scored the highest results for the first year exam in fifty years." Slughorn looked at her incredulously, "What were her numbers?" Hibiscus decided to speak up so she could distract herself from her, "Four-Fifty."

Slughorn gasped in shock, "I haven't heard of a perfect score since Tom Riddle. Did I ever tell you about Tom, Lily?" The red headed witch nodded. While their conversation continued time seemed to stop for Hibiscus. Tom Riddle. Slughorn had taught Tom Riddle. The one person she hated more than anything, Lord Voldemort. Hibiscus had not been surprised that Voldemort had at one point in time actually been Tom Riddle before he split his soul into horcruxes.

Per usual, Lily managed to steer the conversation to Sirius Black. Dinner passed into dessert and the evening ended with Lily giving Slughorn papers to give to his contacts in the ministry so Sirius would be given a trial by the end of the month and then guiding the man to the floo where he vanished in a cloud of green flame. Lily walked back over to her chair and flung herself down into it. "All I have to say is that Sirius Black had better appreciate all of the brown nosing I have done for him this summer." Lily said to no one in particular. Hibiscus couldn't agree more, she still felt Slughorn's greedy gaze.

So first things first, I apologize terribly for the long absence. However school comes first and I have been primarily focused on that. Now moving on, I have decided to just keep building off of the first part of this story. That being said, please review, follow, favorite or whatever else. Thanks for reading.

Next Chapter: A Lesson with the Flamels and 'Wit Beyond Measure is Man's Greatest Treasure.'


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Two: A Lesson with the Flamels and, 'Wit beyond Measure is Man's Greatest Treasure.'

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J.K. Rowling and her publishing company.

_The room was dark; Hibiscus clung deeper into her coat as the chill billowed through Riddle Manor again. Tom Riddle stood in the middle of the large dining room, flinging dark magic at all sides of the room. "Magic," he whispered to her wand, firmly clutched in his hand, "I have missed you." His handsome face broke into a crazed smile as he lovingly stroked the wood. Then he looked up and smirked at her tiny form maliciously, "Come here Hibiscus." _

_The eleven year old girl looked at him with a defiance that would soon be broken and shook her head. He sighed in mock sorrow, "It would be such a shame if your bushy haired friend took a tumble from astronomy tower on Wednesday." Hibiscus glared at _

_him, "You wouldn't dare." He grinned at her, "Wasn't her name… Hermione? Such a pretty name for a mudblood. We both know I would not hesitate to kill her, do NOT test me Potter." Hibiscus shivered fearfully and stepped forward reluctantly. _

_Tom Riddle smiled and pointed the wand into her forehead. "It is time you learn a lesson little one. Crucio." Hibiscus held in her screams, unwilling to show her agony. Riddle glowered and screamed, "CRUCIO, CRUCIO, CRUCIO." Each flick of his wand was fiercer than the last. Hibiscus refused to show weakness until her willpower cracked. _

_That night her screams echoed across Little Hangleton… _

Hibiscus woke with a start, a quick glance out her window and she saw that it was still dark out. Lifting her head shakily from her pillow the girl realized that she was drenched in sweat. Angrily she slammed a fist into her mattress. Damn Tom Riddle, she thought, he couldn't even let her sleep. Hibiscus groaned and sat up, this was no coincidence, the same nightmares every night for a month without fail.

All of it led the young witch to the same conclusion, Tom Riddle had gotten _much _stronger and he was penetrating the pact she had made with Lilith. How and where he was were still unclear but she was more concerned with her lack of magic. She could not go tracking down Tom Riddle without it and the root of his ability to interfere with her dreams was probably a result of it. Sighing she stood and glanced at the book on her nightstand, "_Core Detection Magic." _Flipping it distastefully so she wouldn't have to look at the title she heard a loud tapping on the window and grinned, a letter from Luna perhaps?

Eagerly she ran over and opened it. Plumage, her Argurey, flew onto her desk and extended its small leg disinterestedly as it buried it its head in its wing. Hibiscus practically ripped the letter off in her excitement as she filled Plumage's bowl with owl pellets. Walking to her bed she accidentally kicked Hiss's, her three headed snake's, tiny dog bed he slept in. The heads all hissed angrily at her and reared back as though about to strike. Hibiscus spun on her heel, leaned towards them and hissed fiercely, they got the message. Satisfied she untied the string that was around the letter and began reading it.

Dear Hibiscus,  
Hogwarts has been exciting, the only problem is that it is extremely boring without you. I have recently noticed that the Nargles are running rampant. Perhaps they are breeding with flying humdingers and have created a cross species that is resistant to the radish traps I leave around the school. The other day I went to feed the Thestrals and ran into Hagrid. Professor Dumbledore helped him put up enchantments on part of the forest so your pets are safe and the ministry officials can't find them; your unicorn is growing well. Hagrid has been feeding the dead creatures from the battle last year to Norberta and your Nundu. By the way, do you remember Imogene, the werewolf who helped you and Hermione during the battle? Professor Dumbledore made her the xylomancy teacher; she is apparently really good at Divination. Hermione hopes she will replace Trelawney soon. I can't wait for you to come back to Hogwarts next year. Speaking of Hermione and Cedric they still haven't warmed up to the idea of writing you, I got into a row with them about it last week. Write me as soon as you can, your letters help clear my head of Nargles.

Luna.

Hibiscus grinned, frowning momentarily at the part about Cedric and Hermione still being angry at her, then set the letter on her desk and decided it was high time to get dressed and head to the Flamels for her lesson. Nicholas and Pernelle had decided she was extremely capable of teaching herself the theories on alchemy and sorcery along with runes and arithmancy and astronomy, etc. Hence, she only had two lessons a week with them. Then every Sunday she went to History of Magic lessons with Bathilda Bagshot, which confused her since the Flamels had actually been alive during most of what Bathilda taught her.

Twisting her hair into a braid quickly she wrapped a rubber band around it and snatched her satchel from her desk. Quickly she looked in the mirror and decided she liked the dress she had chosen. Opening the door she stepped into the hallway and shut it before Hiss could slither out after her, her mother hated the Runespoor no matter how often Hibiscus tried to convince her he was tame and quite docile. Walking down the stairs she looked around the living room. No one was up yet then; she grabbed an apple from the dining room table quickly and walked towards the fireplace.

"Hibiscus," her mother said, stepping down the stairs. Hibiscus turned and smiled, "Good morning mum." Lily Potter stepped into the living room and walked over to her. "I will be late tonight sweetheart; I have an interview with the ministry for a job tonight." Hibiscus grinned, "That is great." Lily smiled and started walking towards the kitchen, "Good luck at the Flamel's today." Grinning Hibiscus threw down her floo powder and spun towards the Flamel Manor in France. This was great, now she wouldn't have to make up an excuse for why she would be home so late.

In fact, she might be able to spend more time in Knockturn Alley looking for ways to regain her magical core now. Her trip soon came to an end with her stepping elegantly out of the opulent gold and marble hearth. A loud crack could be heard as Nippy popped into existence. "Good morning Nippy," Hibiscus grinned down at the house elf. The little elf beamed up at her, "Same to you Missus Potter let me take your bag upstairs for you." Hibiscus shook her head and told her to relax, walking away from the parlor room and up the grand marble steps to the Flamel library which was almost as big as the one in Hogwarts.

After two flights of stairs she finally reached the hall with the grand oak door to the library which she opened and closed gently behind her. Turning around she saw Pernelle at a table in the middle of the room, reading a dusty, rather large tome. "Good morning Madame Flamel, I read, "_The Orbital Influence on the Power of Sorcery."_ Pernelle smiled and closed the book, pushing it towards the spot Hibiscus occupied during their lessons and said, "I would like you to read that by next week." Hibiscus grinned and nodded eagerly.

Setting her satchel on the table she pulled out the book from last week and switched it with the new one, passing it to Pernelle then sitting down. "Have you found a new wand yet Hibiscus?" Pernelle asked, pushing her jet black hair over her shoulders. Hibiscus shook her head disappointedly. "I went to Ollivander's this weekend and none of his new wands chose me, he even ordered some Goregorvitch's but they all just burst into flame." Pernelle smiled and patted the back of the girl's hand, "It is all right Hibiscus, we can just go over theory for a little while more."

"Now what did you think of Thomas Pyrite's theory of substantial quantity of magical potential?" She asked. Hibiscus sighed, "Well, I found it rather disagreeable since Robinson MacDougal wrote a completely contradicting theorem in 1789…" The rest of the morning passed into quite a blur.

Ooooo

Hibiscus ran down the stair case and towards the basement where Nicholas kept his laboratory. Unlike Pernelle, he was all about punctuality and was definitely not afraid to tell her off. Pushing back the heavy iron door, which he had in place to keep magic from seeping out into the rest of his manor she shut it with a clang and walked down the dimly lit steps. Thankfully there were not too many steps and she quickly rounded the stairwell and pushed open another heavy iron door.

Nicholas was standing in front of the cauldron, a few ingredients scattered around. Hibiscus walked over to the table and sat down, giving him a quick greeting. The immortal wizard of course ignored her. "Here is your book you assigned me to read last week." The girl said passing it to him. The man finally acknowledged her and turned his gaze in her direction. "I have a new reading for you," he said, pushing a book bigger than her head across the counter, "I want it read by next week." She nodded.

"Now today you will be examining the alchemical properties of unicorn horn, if you did the reading it should not be exceptionally difficult." He said staring at her. Hibiscus grinned, "Good thing I did then." He just stared at her and the smile was wiped from her face. Leave it to Old Nick to kill a harmless joke. The man walked away towards his own experiment and she took that as her cue to start. Bringing the cauldron to a boil she took a pallet and began to grind the horn into a fine powder. All alchemy was basically centered around rearranging atomic structure and changing the properties of materials to make new formulas and potions.

Today he obviously wanted her to break down the unicorn horn to it's simplest form then rearrange it's structure. Eagerly she poured in the powder and she then started dropping in ingredients that chemically react with the horn so she could begin breaking and rebuilding atomic bonds. Observing the ingredients that were laid out as she stirred the periwinkle blue potion she decided he wanted her to craft a _Draught of Innocence. _She smiled, she should have thought of slipping that to Snape when she was in Hogwarts _long _ago.

Whenever someone thought harmful thoughts they suffered complete agony. The draught did not last relatively long however so it required high doses. Soon the brew turned into a dark green and she pinched in a dab of salt to weaken the effects of the potion since if it was too strong it could cause insanity. Nicholas seemed to sense she was done and he walked over. "Good job to today Hibiscus," he commented once he saw the deep black color of the draught, "Perfect brew."

The witch excitedly took that as her cue to leave. She grabbed her satchel from the floor and fled the basements eagerly. Pernelle sat in the grand and opulent parlor room, writing in a large notebook. "Have a grand day Hibiscus," the woman beamed, sipping the tea Nippy had just brought her. Hibiscus exchanged farewell too her and then fled through the fireplace, spinning into Ollivander's.

She stepped out quickly and smiled at the man sitting behind the counter. "Hello Mr. Ollivander." He looked up and smiled, "Hello Miss Potter, I have crafted a new wand, my best attempt at a replica of my grandfather's work." Hibiscus nodded and hurried up to the counter. He held out a long silvery looking wand and she eagerly snatched it into her palm. A bright, dazzling light began to pour from it, she started to smile hopefully. The light then flashed, enveloping her entire field of vision, blinding her and most definitely the elderly Ollivander.

When the light disappeared she was disappointed to see that the wand had splintered into pieces. Ollivander sat at his stool and sighed as he conjured a seat for her as well. "I fear Miss Potter that this is a sign that I am not capable of replicating my Grandfather's work." Hibiscus scowled at the ground. "The only way I believe that we can possibly fix this is by pinpointing what exactly happened to your magical core during the battle."

She nodded while he rubbed his eyes tiredly, "I thought that maybe we could just spark your core back into existence by finding a wand that could choose you, it is more complicated though." Hibiscus nodded listening to him intently. "I have touched up on my magical theory and wand lore however and I have realized something." Her eyes widened and she grew excited, he may have gotten past the dead end they had hit.

"You are a succubus," he whispered the last part as though expecting someone to burst through the door any second; "Their magical cores grow differently than those of wizard's." Hibiscus had confided everything to him reluctantly in hopes that he could solve her problem. "On both your mother's and father's sides you come from exceptionally powerful wizards and witches, you are definitely no exception. A wizard's core grows three times. Once before the age of eleven, again at the age of twelve, then finally at seventeen there is a large boost."

Hibiscus nodded, getting an idea of what he was getting to. "Lilith is a deity, nothing I have never encountered, making you a _very _powerful succubus while Merlin was a powerful wizard, the likes of which almost never seen before. It is not farfetched to say that you could very well have a different system of core growth due to your unique heritage. Another reason I think this is because you're Succubae magic and Wizardry both disappeared, meaning they are a whole entity within your core."

"Upon further inspection I realized that Succubae regularly have growth spurts at twelve also. During the night when you cast the spell that defeated Lucretia it triggered both growth spurts and your power grew exponentially." Ollivander said. Hibiscus stared at him, "I don't understand, if my magic has grown stronger then why can't I use it?" He sighed and shook his head, "I believe that there is no wand strong enough to contain and withstand your new magical capabilities, thus why they all explode when they attempt to choose you. However, I recalled that wands passed down in families are often perfect matches. If you examine your families wand collections in Gringott's you might just be able to find a wand that is strong enough for you."

Hibiscus stared at him surprised, her mother had claimed many vaults that summer and the thought of them containing wands had not occurred to her. "Families collect wands in the wizarding world?" The man nodded, beaming at her. Hibiscus smiled back, "At least I don't have to go to Knockturn Alley for second hand wands in the meantime…"

Oooooo

Hibiscus struggled through the fireplace of her home exhaustedly and trudged up the stairs to her room, slamming the door shut. Not only did she have to keep up with all of the reading she had been assigned but she also now had to go and trudge through all of the vaults her mother owned at Gringott's, meaning she had to steal the key to all of the said vaults. Perhaps it would be easier if she just gave up and let whatever happens happen.

The thought of Tom Riddle eventually invading her mind and breaking through her pact with Lilith turned her stomach in disgust however. She tossed her bag on the floor and grinned as she stopped, contemplating that thought… _Perhaps_, just perhaps that was how he was able to influence her dreams. Ollivander had said her magic had grown stronger, far stronger than it had been before, the process of _Fulfillment_ that Lilith had cast upon her magical core may have broken because her magic had grown so powerful. In fact that had to be what happened, it was the only explanation she could think of.

Hibiscus smiled and felt tears start to sting her eyes, she had feared the inevitable day when she would have to finish _Fulfillment _and strengthen her connection to Lilith. Smiling and sitting at her desk she pulled out her Alchemy book from her bag and her notebook. She sighed as she opened the book and began reading the large tome. Nothing like a thousand something page book to buzz her mood. Then her eyes uncontrollably flitted towards her locked nightstand. It wasn't cheating if she was just studying with it, right? Hibiscus winced guiltily and stood, pulling a key from her jar of pencils on her desk. Walking over to the nightstand she unlocked it and reached in for the single object it contained.

Holding the diadem carefully she walked back to her desk and sat. She hadn't used this since the summer, before she had decided she liked to think herself. When she used it though it gave her a rush, like her brain had swelled to the size of a balloon and she knew _everything. _Pulling the diadem on her head she muttered, "_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure." _A shiver went up her spine; she shook as the magic of the diadem took effect.

Hibiscus then zoned into her book, completely absorbed, in fact she didn't stop reading until she finished the book, twenty minutes later.

Oooooo

Thanks for reading.

Next Chapter: Happy Halloween Mudbloods and the Corporeal Riddle at Gringott's.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Two: Happy Halloween Mudbloods and the Corporeal Riddle of Gringott's.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing companies.

The three friends sat together at the Ravenclaw table. "It is so nice sitting away from all of the people in Gryffindor for once," Hermione Granger sighed in relief, "They never stop staring at me." Cedric nodded in agreement while Luna positioned her potatoes into a smiley face on her plate. Then the group of friends were reminded why they did not generally sit at the Ravenclaw table, it was next to the Slytherin table.

"Oi, mudblood," snarled Malfoy, "Sneaking out to the forest tonight? Too bad Potter isn't here to save your muggle backside." Crabbe and Goyle snickered while Marcus Flint high fived the second year. Hermione bristled angrily and began to reach for her wand, Cedric leaned in and whispered, "Hermione, ignore him, he is just an inbred moron. He isn't worth another detention."

Then the fourth year looked at the Slytherins and said, "Shut your prat faces before I do it for you." The Slytherins glared at him and shifted their focus back to their Halloween feast. Luna groaned in boredom, "It is in moments like this I wish Hibiscus was here. The nargles seemed to be repelled by her. Now they are running rampant." She said this while eyeing Hermione's still red and angry face.

Hermione glared at Luna and snapped, "Nargles don't exist. Besides, who would want Hibiscus here? She is a liar and an awful friend." Luna looked at Hermione indignantly the dreamy look gone from her eyes, "She was not a liar, and she was a wonderful friend." Cedric looked at Luna, obviously unhappy with the new topic of discussion. "Whatever Luna, talk to me after she lies to you about being a witch-creature, or whatever she was for an entire year." Hermione chimed in, "Or that she was hiding a Nundu in the Forbidden Forest." Cedric opened his mouth again and said, "Don't forget that she had multiple chances to tell us after Ronald Weasley attacked Hermione in the Gryffindor common room the night of the battle."

Luna frowned and ignored them, going back to her potatoes. "Can you pass me some pumpkin juice, Penelope?" Hermione asked the Ravenclaw prefect. The girl looked at her and sniffed in annoyance, "You shouldn't even be sitting here, it is against the rules." Cedric rolled his eyes and passed the jug to Hermione. Then suddenly the jug exploded and so did all of the plates and platters on the table in front of them. Penelope Clearwater and her bookish friends screamed in fear and covered their heads and faces from flyaway bits of food and glass.

"That does it." Hermione hissed vehemently, whipping her wand off the table and spinning towards Draco Malfoy and his cronies. Almost before her eyes even landed on them Marcus Flint was breaking out in deadly looking hives as he struggled to breathe, Crabbe and Goyle had been caught in a _Lip Locking Curse _while all of the food and plates in front of them exploded into fragments. Pausing for a second, Hermione stopped spewing out incantations and looked at Malfoy angrily. "Your turn," She hissed, and she flicked her wand while saying, "_Creumlus_." He went cross eyed. The girl grinned and then hit him with one last Curse, _The Defecation Curse. _Unfortunately that was her last spell and she barely had time to watch the results.

The teachers were beginning to stand in order to intervene and Hermione ran out of the Great Hall. Cedric turned to Luna and scowled, "Come on." The two friends walked out of the hall in Hermione's close pursuit, Cedric taking long strides and Luna skipping. As soon as they walked into the Entrance Hall, Cedric wasted no time spinning towards Luna.

"I didn't feel as though it was necessary to warn either you or Hermione, but after _that _little display I guess it was foolish of me not to." He paused and looked at Luna with a steely gaze, "None of us ever should have gone into the Restricted Section with Hibiscus last year. We learned terrible magic, and some of it could get us all expelled if we ever used it. Almost all of the magic Hermione used back there just now was from the Restricted Section." Luna sighed and the dreamy quality left her cloudy blue eyes. "Cedric, it is fine, I doubt anyone noticed, Hermione has cursed people before when she has been provoked."

Cedric groaned the two started walking up the steps in Hermione's pursuit, "It goes deeper than that Luna, people are watching us more closely now after what happened last year…" Luna looked at him sharply, "How would you know that?" Cedric looked at the ground and put his hands in his pockets, "My dad warned me before I left for Hogwarts this year, Lucius Malfoy expressed that he wanted all of us expelled along with Hibiscus last year."

"Professor Dumbledore would never let that happen," Luna argued, "He is one of the strongest wizards in the whole wizarding world. Lucius Malfoy has a sliver of the power he does." Her companion took his hands out of his pockets and sighed, "I thought you would know how pureblood society works Luna. Perhaps Malfoy only has a fraction of the influence Dumbledore does, but how many other purebloods follow his stead and his ideology, it all begins to add up and over the years Dumbledore has lost a lot of supporters."

They rounded the corner and began to walk down the second floor corridor. "Luna, promise me you will watch out, plenty of people would pounce on the opportunity to expose the fact that students practice dark magic in Hogwarts and they would bring us down right along with him." The friends then stopped when they realized that sloshing sounds were echoing around the corridor. "Peculiar," Luna muttered, "Perhaps Misled Adniners chewed through the pipes in the girl's bathrooms."

Cedric rolled his eyes, "HERMIONE," he called out, cupping his hands around his mouth. No response came and he pulled his wand out of his pockets. "_Aqua Morteur." _He whispered as he flicked his wand in a vertical arc over the water. Instantly it moved outwards in a wave and rolled out further when he stepped forwards. Luna followed behind him and asked, "When did you learn that spell?" He smiled over his shoulder, "The School of Underwater Charms," then he scowled, "Hibiscus was supposed to go with me this summer but…" He didn't finish, it wasn't necessary.

The two kept walking then rounded the corner, Hermione stood there with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, a perturbed expression marring her face as she stared at the wall as though entranced. Cedric's eyes widened and he moved to hide the scene from Luna, she was sensitive about animals. "What does it mean?" Hermione asked them, her eyes never moving from the wall. "I don't know," Cedric replied while Luna gasped and cried out.

Footsteps began to echo off the walls as the school finished their feast and marched throughout the castle. It was long until wizards and witches on both sides of the passageway had walked down to where the three friends stood with one another. All conversation and laughter buzzed down and died as students saw Mrs. Norris hanging by her tail from the torch bracket, eyes wide and terrified.

Voices began to repeat the words painted in red across the wall, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir beware." Then Draco Malfoy, pants clean and eyes no longer cross eyed stepped forwards and out of the crowd, "You'll be next mudbloods!" Luna was choking on her tears and leaned into Cedric's robes while he wrapped an arm around her head.

Filch came through the crowd and began to scream at them all, particularly at Hermione whom he had gotten into some especially nasty brawls with before. "YOU KILLED MY CAT, YOU KILLED MRS. NORRIS." He then broke down into tears and collapsed on the floor. Dumbledore then came through the crowd, bellowing at the students, "Go back to your dormitories at once, and follow your House Heads and prefects immediately."

Eventually the crowd died down and began to trickle out as Professor McGonagall and Lockhart along with Snape all watched Mrs. Norris's swinging, stiff body cautiously. Dumbledore began to poke her with his wand as he muttered incantations under his breath. Both Luna and Filch were still sobbing while Lockhart continued to ramble on about some village he had saved from near calamity. "Would you just cram it already you prat," Hermione snapped angrily.

Lockhart gained an affronted expression while Filch ceased his sobbing momentarily. The caretaker glared at Hermione with his puffy red face, "How dare you speak to your professor that way after you kill my cat." Dumbledore turned around and said, "Mrs. Norris has been petrified." Lockhart tossed back his elaborate curls and began to say, "Just as I suspecte-," but a glare from Hermione silenced him instantly.

"They did this," snapped Filch, "I want to see some punishment." Dumbledore sighed calmly and adjusted his spectacles on his nose. "They most certainly did not; no student their age could have accomplished dark magic like this." Filch glared at the headmaster, "We both know they do dark magic, just like their little _Potter _friend last year, and you saw what _that _one did to Draco Malfoy this evening," he glared, pointing at Hermione vehemently, "I bet she did it because I am a squib." Cedric stepped forwards, in front of Hermione and snapped, "How dare you, Hermione is a muggleborn, she does not have some sort of sick blood purity agenda." Snape stepped out of the shadows and looked at them all, "Perhaps they _were _in the wrong place at the wrong time, however, Miss Granger did skip a year and her talents are far beyond that of her peers. Also, if I recall correctly, Granger, Diggory and Lovegood _all _had access to the Restricted Section in the library last year. I would not find it so difficult to believe that they have the knowledge necessary to accomplish this."

"I don't know anything about petrification you weasel," Hermione lied angrily, "I will even take Veritaserum if I have to in order to prove it." Imogene stepped out of the shadows behind Snape and spoke, causing nearly everyone to jump. "That will not be necessary Miss Granger," the werewolf said, "I know you didn't do it." Snape turned and glared at the new Xylomancy professor, "And how might that be, may I ask?" The werewolf inhaled deeply and walked closer to Mrs. Norris, "I can't smell them anywhere on her."

Dumbledore looked at them all and said, "You three are free to go then, and Miss Granger," he called to their retreating backs, "Make sure to reign in your temper, Mr. Malfoy provoked you this evening, but if you harm another student with your magic again the consequences will be quite severe." Hermione nodded and tugged Luna and Cedric down the corridor, their feet sploshing loudly.

When they were out of the earshot of the adults and had turned a corner she spun around and faced them. "No one petrified Mrs. Norris with a spell." Cedric looked at her curiously, "How do you know? Besides, what good is it for us to know that?" Hermione responded instantly, "I _did _read about petrification in the Restricted Section, and it can only be done when a circle is spread out in iron around the victim and the attacker, the iron helps the attacker weaken the victim's aura so they can turn it into a stone like layer around the victim and trap them inside their own body."

"Again, how is this pertinent to finding out who did this?" Asked Cedric, crinkling his brow in confusion. Hermione's eyes lit up, "If we find out what weapon was used we can use it to find whoever did this. We know that a witch or wizard doing it with a circle ritual is out of the question which leaves only one other ritual and some rare artifacts in the equation." Luna finally spoke up, her eyes red and puffy, "If we find the weapon the chances are that we will find the culprit with it."

Then the Ravenclaw pushed passed them and stalked off to her dormitory.

OOOO

Hibiscus Potter found herself eager at the prospect of finding magic once again in Gringott's. She tried to tell herself that she might not find a wand powerful enough to suit her core and that she should definitely not get her hopes up, but of course her spirits still rose. "You seem really excited about something," her mother remarked casually, flipping a page in Witch's Weekly as she settled down on the couch for the evening. Hibiscus just set down her quill on the homework that Bathilda Bagshot had assigned her last week and smiled at her mother. "Just looking forward to my History of Magic lesson with Bathilda tomorrow." Hibiscus responded, scratching out the last sentence of her essay.

Sighing she set her quill in her ink pot and turned to face her mother. Ever since Ollivander's Hibiscus had tried to research Succubus core growth, but to no avail, it wasn't as though she could just open her mum's books on Succubae magic like last year. Lily Potter had confiscated them and expressly warned her daughter that she was not to use her Succubae magic ever again. "Mum?" Hibiscus asked, bringing her knees up to her chin and looking at the red headed witch. Lily set down the magazine and looked at Hibiscus, "Yes darling."

Hibiscus gulped and decided she should just get it over with, like ripping off a band aid. "What do you know about the magical core development of succubus's?" Her mother's eyes flashed as green as the _Killing Curse_. "I thought I told you that we were _never _to talk about _that _stuff ever again." Hibiscus swallowed her mouth and throat as dry as cotton, "I know, it's just… I think I went through my development during the battle." Her mother shook her head and stood, "We are done talking about this Hibiscus." Her mother said, stalking out of the living room and going up to her bedroom.

Hibiscus sighed, and reached for the jacket her mother had left on the couch, pulling out her ring of keys from the pocket. There it was, the tiny golden Gringott's key. Shoving the ring back in the pocket she glanced at the clock and decided she would go the next morning after History of Magic. At least then her mum would be busy at her posh new job in the Department of Mysteries.

OOOO

"Herpo the Foul was an extremely powerful yet dark wizard during his days… It was because of this that he created the Scepter of the Basilisk, a powerful artifact with unknown properties lost to time, to prove and display his prowess to all." Bathilda rambled while Hibiscus day dreamed of finding wands in her mother's Gringott's vaults. Sighing Hibiscus went back to her book while Bathilda continued with her lesson.

A painting was copied into the book, a man with a long white beard that would have made Dumbledore himself wince in envy, wearing yellow and maroon robes stood behind the back of a mahogany chair. He stood tall and prideful, the Scepter of the Basilisk supporting his weight. "Now, before next week I want you to read this book," Bathilda said, pushing the dusty tome over to Hibiscus. "Take thorough notes so you can review them before the third year exams next year."

Hibiscus grinned; she had made it through History of Magic. Pushing the book into her satchel she thanked Bathilda profusely and ran to the floo, spiraling into Diagon Alley. Stepping out hastily she turned in the direction of Gringott's and she walked quickly. Rain was beginning to fall and very few people were about on the streets.

She shivered as she felt a hot gaze on her back and she looked around. Nothing whatsoever, she saw no one. Pulling her cloak tighter around her body she walked up the marble steps of Gringott's and pushed through the doors. Security Wizards stood against the pillars and she ignored them, walking passed all of the goblin tellers and finally stopped once she was in front of the desk of the head goblin.

Slapping the key on the desk in front of him she waited as he asked, "Which vault would you like to enter today Miss Potter?" Hibiscus's eyes widened as she realized her mother had never merged all of the vaults she had inherited into one. "Whichever ones contain the wands of my ancestors." The goblin snarled venomously and scratched something into a parchment for several long moments. Then he bellowed, "GRIPHOOK." A tiny goblin rushed into the room and looked up at the head goblin expectantly.

"Miss Potter wishes to see all seventy-three of these vaults," he sneered, tossing a key and the piece of yellow parchment at Griphook. Hibiscus blanched and followed the goblin to the other room and sat on the cart. "Which vault," the creature asked in its squeaky little voice. "The first one I suppose." Hibiscus sighed. The cart jolted forwards at break neck speed. What felt like ages were probably minutes, they passed through a waterfall and finally the cart came to a stop in front of a circular room.

Hibiscus jumped out of the cart and was about to run inside when the goblin grabbed her cloak and yanked her back as flame blasted where she had just been standing. She looked back and the goblin just looked at her blankly. "You keep _bloody _dragons down here?" Hibiscus demanded. The goblin bared his teeth at her and picked a bell up off the front of the cart, jingling it and walking into the room, Hibiscus following closely.

She had to cover her mouth at what she found. The beautiful, large Hungarian Horntail was chained to the wall, fresh, bloody wounds stood out on her scales. "They have been trained to expect pain when they hear the sound," the goblin smirked, obviously enjoying Hibiscus's pained expression. The horrified witch stopped and began to walk up to the dragon, ignoring Griphook's shocked expression as he nearly dropped the bell.

"_Hello," _Hibiscus hissed in parseltongue, "_What isss wrong?" _The dragon instantly reared back and hissed, "_A sspeaker, have you come to rescue me." _Hibiscus stopped, the thought had crossed her mind but she didn't know how to pull such a feat off. The goblin pulled at her cloak and tried to keep the gob smacked expression off his face. A plan began to form in her mind, all she needed was to find a wand and she could help the dragon.

"_Wait here and be calm, I will help you." _Hibiscus hissed as she walked towards a hallway full of vaults with Griphook. The two stopped in front of vault 1,908 and the goblin moved his hand in a series of motions with his talons extended. He was still watching Hibiscus with an awestruck expression. Dust seemed to coat every single surface in the vault was the first thing Hibiscus saw as she stepped inside.

"Where would _I_ keep my family wands in a vault?" Hibiscus asked herself as she passed books, galleons, jewels and artifacts. Then she wiped the dust off the top of an oak chest and grinned, 'Ollivander's Wand Store' was carved into the top. Pulling the latch, which was so ancient it almost snapped off, Hibiscus opened the chest and peered inside. The usual boxes that Ollivander wands were packaged in were piled almost up to the top of the trunk.

Eagerly she began to pull them all out, one after the other. She must have held all fifty of them in her hands, but to no avail, one even exploded into white powder. Groaning in frustration she stood and began to walk out of the vault, Griphook opened the vault wider so she could get out but as soon as she was a foot away from the vault door, the goblin was thrown back into a wall by seemingly thin air and the heavy metal door slammed shut at breakneck speed.

"NO," Hibiscus screamed, running forwards and pounding on the vault door. Outside she heard pattering feet and realized the goblin was leaving. "Hello Hibiscus," a voice as silky as sheets of the finest satin purred. She turned around slowly, she knew that beautiful voice, and she had no magic to protect herself with. The room would have been pitch black, but Tom Riddle still gave off that silver sheen that showed he wasn't entirely human. "What do you want?" Hibiscus snarled, pushing herself as far into the door as she could.

He smiled and his face grew even more attractive, if that was even possible. "I can assure you we both want the same thing little succubus." He stepped closer and Hibiscus glared at him angrily. "We have never wanted the same thing; your motives always have a selfish, ulterior intent behind them." Tom took two more steps forwards and reached out, stroking her cheek. Hibiscus slapped at his hand and felt the same chill of touching a non corporeal person. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "I know how to get your magic back, restore you back to your full potential."

Hibiscus stared at him, "Prove it." Tom smirked, "You have to find it yourself." Hibiscus stepped around him cautiously. "It is in this vault?" She asked as she looked around. Tom merely nodded and extended his luminescent, Hogwart's clad arm. She looked around, and asked, "Does this vault come from my mother's side of the family or my dad's?" The portion Voldemort's soul merely shrugged his shoulders, "Hurry Potter, the goblins will be back soon, and like it or not you will assist me with my ulterior motives." Sighing distastefully she looked for clues. More trunks, more piles of wealth and more stacks of books. Then she saw it, carved into the wall, a large serpent with it's jaws outstretched.

Pushing through a pile of galleons and shoving aside a pile of books she reached for the stone and wiped it off. Dust billowed outwards and she sneezed into her elbow. Below the picture of the coiled serpent, rearing back to strike were odd words in another language. Odd squiggles and punctuation that she had never seen before somehow made sense.

Tom came up behind her and almost in unison they hissed the same words in parseltongue, "_Blood price of the kith and kin of the Foul." _Hibiscus looked at it, "Blood price, does that mean…" She cried out loud, Tom grabbed her palm and a jewel encrusted dagger lying in an overturned pile gem stones next to his foot, then he slashed across her age line. Before blood even passed the surface of her flesh he was grinding her palm into the stone.

Eventually he stopped when he had spread red over the serpent and Hibiscus recoiled from him. Before she could open her mouth and snap something at him a large grinding sound came from behind the wall. Then Hibiscus heard a _CRACK _as the portion of the wall with the snake carved into it vanished. A cloud of dust pushed outward and she was momentarily lost.

Then it began to spread further out and she found that she could see and breathe again. Tom stood next to her and when she glanced up at her face she saw him staring into the hole greedily. Before he could move, and potentially reach in and steal whatever was in the hole she shoved him with all of her strength into a large pile of galleons. Crouching to her knees Hibiscus leaned in and yanked out the two objects within, a light black wooden case and a dusty scroll.

Tom Riddle stood and his luminescent, perfect face scowled at her. Hibiscus ignored him and wrenched the black box open quickly. A large and long object wrapped in a rucksack cloth rested inside, bound by leather strings. A rush of power fell over her as she picked it up and she nearly moaned in ecstasy at the feeling of magic. "This is it," she whispered, "I can feel it." The wave of magic continued to roar over her fiercer with each tug at the fabric covering the object.

When she finally pulled the wrapping off she gasped. It glowed golden and the head seemed to hiss at her. A rumbling began to shake the vault and the dragon outside began to roar in agitation. The Scepter of Herpo the Foul grew brighter and brighter until no shadows were left in the vault. Hibiscus's aura began to blossom around her body while the golden snake head on the top of the scepter clearly leaned forwards as though drinking in it's new master's magic. Before her eyes the scepter seemed to shrink and morph, at one point it was as though she was holding a ball of molten gold.

Then the glow faded away and she was holding a wand crafted from the finest gold with a snake head attached to the handle, like Lucius Malfoy's but more tasteful. Hibiscus grabbed the scroll and stood, stowing it in her pocket and looking in the case for anything else. She felt revitalized and not even the sight of Tom Riddle could bring her down. "_Lumos," _She said, a warm blue light erupted from her wand, she didn't remember ever casting a more powerful _Lighting Charm _with her old wand than the one she had just cast. It felt as though her magic was times stronger than the last time she had used it.

"I hate to interrupt your precious time with your newly rediscovered magic," Tom Riddle began, "But I have a very busy schedule little witch." He flicked his hand and whatever magic had been blocking the vault door was released. He strode passed her and stepped into the hallway and began walking towards the room with the dragon. Hibiscus followed him quickly and shut the vault door with her newly rediscovered magic.

"Where are we going?" She asked, following him closely. "You are familiar with horcruxes, correct?" Tom asked while walking into the dragon's chamber. Hibiscus grabbed his elbow when he approached the middle of the stairwell. Tom snatched her hand and twisted her wrist. She refused to give him the satisfaction by showing her pain and masked her face into an indifferent stone.

"I want to know where we are going, what you expect me to do and how in the hell you knew the Scepter of Herpo the Foul was in one of my bloody family vaults." Hibiscus demanded calmly. Tom quirked an eyebrow and sighed, "Either you can help me or I can strangle you until your eyes pop out of your skull and use your wand to serve my purposes today. I just assumed that we had mutual interests."

Hibiscus was unfazed by his threats and asked him another question, "What mutual interests might we share?" Tom Riddle opened his mouth just as sirens erupted all over the tunnels. He turned around and cursed, "This puts us _far _behind schedule." He stomped in front of the Hungarian Horntail which opened it's jaws wide and prepared to incinerate him. "_STOP," _Tom hissed, stepping forward and moving passed it towards where the carts were supposed to be.

"Thanks to you, _Potter, _the goblin has had more than enough time to inform his superiors of my infiltration of the bank." Tom seethed venomously. Hibiscus opened her mouth to argue with him when it all clicked, "There is a horcrux in Gringott's somewhere?" Tom Riddle's silver eyelids closed as he pinched his nose, "Perceptive as usual Potter." Hibiscus stared at him, the alarms were ringing louder by the minute. "Why do you need me though?" Tom glared at her, "There is a ritual, it requires a corporeal witch to be successful and recently, as I have searched for hidden horcruxes I have encountered traps left by my other self. It appears he anticipated one of the pieces of his soul growing stronger and trying to become whole again, I have tried to get to the horcrux here several times but he set a barrier in front of the vault that I cannot pass."

Hibiscus stared at him hard, there was nothing she hated more than Lord Voldemort, but was potentially getting arrested for breaking into Gringott's worth destroying him? Besides, if Tom retrieved this horcrux he would become completely corporeal and possibly a new Dark Lord. "I have a plan, but you have to promise you will do your best to make sure I get out of here without being identified." Hibiscus said. Tom stared at her and nodded sincerely, "I promise." Hibiscus spun around and faced the Hungarian Horntail, "_Relashio." _The chains broke with a loud snapping noise. "_I need you to do something for me…" _Hibiscus began. Little did the goblins of Gringott's know that their own defenses would soon turn on them.

OOOO

Hello, sorry I haven't updated so long. School is chaotic. Thank you for reading, please continue to fave, follow and keep reading!

Next Chapter: They All Fall Down and the First Mudblood to go, the Rest will Follow


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Four: They All Fall Down and the First Mudblood to go, the Rest will Follow.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J.K. Rowling or her publishing company.

The cart flew forwards on the rails, golden sparks flying from the contact made between the metal. Tom sat in the backseat, holding on to the handle loosely while Hibiscus spun her wand wildly and muttered incantations under her breath, maintaining the _Perpetual Motion Charm _over the cart. Alarms whistled passed them and the bright lights that were attached to the walls flashed so blindingly bright that Hibiscus continually blinked away dancing black spots.

Tom sighed in disappointment behind her, "I guess your dragon never intended to live up to her promise." Then suddenly a loud roar erupted from behind them and what sounded like an army of Goblins screamed in fear. A small smile graced her lips and she tossed her hair back, continuing with her magic. They passed by several more vaults and then Hibiscus was tapped on the shoulder by her companion, they were there. The cart came grinding to a halt as soon as she stopped the incantation and they jumped off. "Remember, they have Guard Wizards posted in these caverns sometimes," Tom murmured behind her.

Hibiscus stepped cautiously into the circular chamber like the one they had just visited and quickly cast a _Shield Charm _as she threw herself out of the way of a blast of fire and a volley of Curses. "Told you," Tom gloated just before he ran off to deal with the dragon. Hibiscus scowled; of course he chose today to rob a bank, right when her dueling skills were rustier than they had ever been before. "_SAGITO," _She roared, her golden wand firing arrows at her foes every time she flicked it.

Soon she was gaining ground in the battle and she was able to peer around the corner, right before she had to block a powerful _Blast Curse_. "Five bloody guards?" She asked herself in wonder. Then she watched as Tom ran over to the dragon and conversed with it. The creature instantly stopped blowing flame at her and at the guards. Hibiscus sighed wistfully; it must be so wonderful to be non-corporeal and immune to offensive spells. Then she spun into a crouch as the entire corner she hid next to was blown to shards of stone.

Time to go and show them what she was made of then. Running into the middle of the cavern she blocked a thick rope that was shot at her and then she hit the caster square in the face with a _Stinging Hex. _Sidestepping a Stunner, blocking a Hex and then diving into a roll she blasted her second victim with a _Blowback Hex _into the cement wall behind him. "_Periculum," _she whispered and the wizard on the right sent out a shield expecting something worse. She then followed it closely with a Stunner, giving her attack a bite.

Before he had fallen she had shot thick ropes at the one to the left but was taken aback when the one in the middle got her with a _Total Body Bind Curse. _Soon after she had fallen she heard a roar, felt a powerful blast of heat and then the magic wore off. When Hibiscus sat up, all she saw was a pile of blackened ashes in the place of her foe. She grinned and looked at the Ukrainian Iron belly that had rescued her. "_Thanksss," _She hissed, the dragon cocked it's head and muttered, "_No, thank YOU mistressss." _Hibiscus grinned and looked to Tom who merely waved his hand in the direction of the chains, no explanation needed. She took the hint and quickly destroyed the one thing holding the magnificent dragon to the chamber and it fled passed them to aid the Hungarian Horntail she had freed earlier.

Tom began to rush towards a set of stairs and she followed him eagerly. All she heard as they walked down the silent hall were her loud steps and the billowing of her cloak as she strode after him. Then he stopped in front of an ancient looking vault door and gestured to her. "What exactly makes it so difficult for you to make it through here yourself?" She wondered. Tom Riddle scowled at her and glided forwards until a flash of blue erupted from the floor and shoved him back into the wall.

Hibiscus sighed as she tried several spells to break through the Goblin wards. She groaned and rubbed her temples frustrated, "I think that Goblin wards are too complicated for wizardry to break through." Then it struck her like a bag of bricks, she hadn't even checked to see if her _other _magic had returned. Closing her eyes she shifted into her Focus and then she gasped, just like her wizardry her succubae magic had increased by tenfold in power. In fact, she could hear far above the vault they stood in and perhaps even into Diagon Alley.

Pushing her attention to the wards she realized with a start that she could actually _see _the magic. Every curve and line was a part of the elaborate spells weaved together by the Goblins. Pushing the power that pulsed in her core towards the weak, jumbled center she broke it, and then she tore down the magic that Voldemort had placed around the vault, finally discovering a weak point and stabbing it. The young succubus promptly snapped herself from the Focus. She blinked rapidly as her senses of touch, taste and smell returned to her, sight returning to normal. As soon as she snapped back together the heavy vault door swung open slowly

Quickly she stepped forwards and Tom eagerly followed. "Where is it?" She asked, even trying a _Summoning Charm_. Tom strode passed her and glanced around, pointing to a shelf at the other end of the room. A beautiful tiny, golden goblet stood at the highest shelf. Stepping forwards to go and grab it she accidentally hit a pile of galleons and each one immediately produced ten more replicas. "The _Gemino Curse_," Tom said behind her and she stared at him, deciding she would _definitely _not be making the trip to the other end of the room.

Extending her palm she drew on her succubae magic and watched as the cup of Helga Hufflepuff floated slowly through the air to her open palm. Snatching it out the air she realized that even though she was far more powerful now her core was still easily weakened by the use of her telekinesis. Turning around she stepped out quickly and looked at Tom, "Now how do we get out?" He grinned and she followed him back into the cavern. Then she stopped as she passed the first unconscious guard, stepping carefully through the ashes that had scattered everywhere.

"_Obliviate," _She whispered, desperate to quickly wipe their memories so she would not be implicated in the break in. Tom watched as she accomplished the deed and then they rushed towards the cart. Hibiscus leapt into the front seat and began her _Perpetual Motion Charm, _this time willing the cart to flee back towards the vault she had found her new wand in. "How do we get out?" The young witch asked Tom as the cart came to a stop and all that could be seen above was the flashes of flame from the dragons, almost towards the surface and free. "You are going to go back to your vault and act as though you were locked in there the whole time." Tom said forcefully, "Meanwhile I will go with the cup and enjoy freedom."

Hibiscus clutched it tight in her hand and pointed her wand at him. "I don't trust you with a horcrux and I definitely am not going to let you take it from my sight." Tom cocked his perfect head, his handsome eyes turning cold as stones. "_I _gave you back your magic, _I _gave you back the spirit that you used to embrace so utterly and _I _sure as hell can _Take. It. All. Back." _The non-corporeal wizard tried to step forwards but Hibiscus pointed her wand at the cup threateningly and said, "I know the incantation to _Fiend-Fyre_ Riddle, tread _very _carefully you pale faced freak." Hibiscus gulped, they both knew she had neglected to acknowledge whether or not she could _successfully _cast the spell.

They stared at each other in deathly silence and he sighed, "Take good care of it for me Potter, I wouldn't want to wring your pretty neck because you mistreated _my _possessions." Hibiscus stared him down and smiled-snarled, "I was able to overpower your precious diadem you clung too, I can do it again." He smirked coldly at her and took another step forwards so her wand pointed at his chest. "Do you really think that _I _am the soul that was contained in the diadem?" His eyes darkened and glimmered, the sounds of battle between the dragons and Goblins ahead buzzed out and all she saw was his face, his lips moving.

He stepped closer and it was like she was using Focus, he was all she could see. He spoke after his wicked chuckling subsided, "_We _are closer than you will ever be to that other portion of my soul. I am the piece of Voldemort that was encased in you for eleven years until Lilith ripped me out, and I will _never _go away." Hibiscus stepped back until she was a foot away and shook her head, golden hair tumbling across her shoulders. "Keep the horcrux for now little succubus," Tom said to her, "I know you take good care of them; I am living proof after all." The last few chilling words struck her to her magical essence and she watched as the non-corporeal Tom Riddle disappeared before her very eyes.

Striding quickly towards the vault she tried to think it all through rationally. If she had released the soul from the diadem how had the piece of soul that Lilith had snatched from her body last Halloween not merged with the diadem soul? She had always assumed she was dealing with one Riddle, the one that Lilith had banished last winter break, but now she was not so sure. It was entirely possible that Lilith had banished the other one but he had broken through her boundaries when Hibiscus went through her growth spurt.

She scowled as she wrenched open the vault door and stepped inside, closing the heavy thing behind her and lighting her wand. The only way to be sure would be if she could actually see them both at the same time, the witch speculated as fear bubbled in her stomach. Not only did she have Lord Voldemort to contend with but two Tom Riddles, and if she didn't play her cards right, she might have a third if she couldn't dispose of the cup properly.

OOOO

Cedric Diggory didn't know what to think as he walked to the library as Hermione had demanded earlier that day. The attack of Colin Creevey seemed to invoke a rage in her that he had never seen her contain before. He soon stood in front of the library and walked in quietly, lest Madame Pince shush him angrily. Looking around carefully he walked to the far back of the library when he saw a flash of wild, bushy hair.

"Hermione, are you here?" The fourth asked as he walked around the corner into the depths of the library. She didn't have to answer because as soon as he was in the bookshelves he saw Hermione and Luna bent over a dusty old book. "What are you reading?" He asked as he walked over to them, Hermione's head rocketed up as she snarled at him and put a finger to her lips.

Then he watched as she stood and the cover flashed in the light. "_Moste Potent Potions?" _He scowled and tugged at his hair furiously, rage plastered across his face, "What did I tell you Hermione? What are you doing with a book from the _Restricted _Section?" Hermione was obviously exasperated and shut the book as she stood; grabbing her satchel from the floor next to her, Luna quick to follow and Cedric narrowed his eyes at the Ravenclaw. "I told you what Professor Binns said, Cedric," Hermione said pointedly, her shoulders tense and obviously prepared to fight.

Cedric glared daggers at Hermione, "Yes, you did, I still don't understand what any of that has to do with a book that is strictly forbidden without permission, especially after Dumbledore _personally _banned us from the Restricted Section last year." Hermione scowled furiously and stepped forwards, "Do you know what Cedric? No one at this dingy school seems to care that muggleborns are being wiped out every week, so forgive me if I am willing to do whatever it takes to find out what is going on because I will be damned if _anyone _ever tells me whether or not I can go to Hogwarts." Her face was flushed and she shook with raspy breaths.

Then she spun to the bench to their side and opened the musty book to a dog eared page. "Polyjuice Potion," She explained, "One hair and you can transform into the form of any person, in other words, any Slytherin of our liking." Cedric walked closer and stared at the page, "I really doubt that Draco Malfoy is the heir of Salazar Slytherin Hermione…" The girl glared at him, "Whoever is doing this is definitely a pureblood supremacist and I don't know of a bigger inbred prat than Malfoy," Hibiscus hissed. Cedric opened his mouth when Luna cut him off, "Even if Draco Malfoy is not the heir, the Slytherins may know something about the Chamber that we don't." Cedric clearly had not thought of that as his eyes widened significantly.

Sighing he looked at the floor, Hermione looked at him, speckles of annoyance still in her eyes. "I take back what I've said about Hibiscus, Luna, I am sick and tired of passive people who just let things happen; at least she fought for what she thought was right." Cedric looked at her and he watched Hermione closely, the comparison to Hibiscus was the last straw "What is the plan, I am in." Hermione's scowl slowly evaporated and she leaned in with a wicked grin, whispering her plan, "We are going to use Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to brew…" None of the three Hogwart's students truly recognized the pure evil they were about to tackle, not a single one.

Hello, sorry again that I haven't updated in so long, school… Need I say more? One of my reviews said that Hermione and Cedric suck, I understand. They are going to eventually redeem themselves a lot later on though. Thanks to every one who reviewed, favorited and followed my story, happy Valentine's day!

Next Chapter: When Mother of Snakes Shows her Hate and the Dueling and the Girl Who Knew too Much.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Five: When Mother of Snakes shows her Hate and Dueling and the Girl Who Knew too much.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. or her publishing company.

OOOO

Hermione, Cedric and Luna all stepped out of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The leaves had begun to fall in the Forbidden Forest and November had rolled in. "The Polyjuice Potion will definitely be ready by the winter holidays." Hermione commented, Luna was skipping along next to her and humming while Cedric grinned. They were almost to the Great Hall for lunch when he spoke up, "Did you hear that there will be a dueling club tonight in the Great Hall." Hermione got a calculating look as she tilted her head and said, "Are any of the Slytherins doing it?"

Cedric nodded as they all sat at the Gryffindor table together, "Marcus Flint bragged in potions that he was going to make everyone, 'Cry for their mommies tonight.' That probably means that all of his second year cronies like Draco Malfoy are going too." Hermione nodded and grinned at him, then turned white as a bone before looking down. Ronald Weasley had passed by and stared at her before sitting down with Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas. "Hermione," Cedric whispered, "You need to stop freaking out whenever he comes near you, Hibiscus wiped his memory clean last year and people will think it is strange the way you act around him."

"I can't help but worry that _maybe _Hibiscus didn't do it right and he knows everything Cedric." Hermione worried, stabbing her chicken with her fork with more force than was necessary. Luna spoke up in dainty voice and Cedric winced, the two made a good team but neither was particularly good at consoling the other. "When has Hibiscus's magic ever failed us all?" Hermione shook her head and opened her mouth but closed it, she couldn't remember a single time. "Luna, you don't know what he is like at all, he was a bloody _psychopath _last year, to think that he stalked Hibiscus from the start of our first term, and he said he would blow my head off last semester right before the battle. I just hope they weren't able to fix him all the way at Saint Mungo's this summer."

Luna spoke once again before going back to humming, "They aren't that good at healing alterations to the memory; they weren't able to fix what Voldemort did to mine last term." Cedric stared at Hermione pointedly; the girl just rubbed her eyes and stood. "I have a charms class to go to; I will meet you guys here after." Then they watched as she spun around and marched to Flitwick's classroom. "How does she do it?" He asked Luna confusedly. "Do what Cedric Diggory?" Luna asked, equally confused, it was not often that he noticed something she didn't. Cedric turned to the witch and said, "How does she manage to fit _so _many classes into one day?"

Luna stared at him then closed her mouth and shook her head, "I don't know." Neither of them noticed the redhead watching them closely.

OOOO

All three of them huddled together in front of the dueling platform. Almost all of the friends laughed as they watched the interactions between Lockhart and Snape. Hermione was clearly distant though; her eyes continued wandering towards the Slytherins she had been eying that entire evening. If her friends had realized where her gaze was landing they would see she was staring at Millicent Baulstrode, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. "Luna," she whispered as Lockhart and Snape searched the crowd for volunteers, "I need you to try and duel with Vincent Crabbe and collect one of his hairs tonight." Cedric was now listening and she whispered Gregory Goyle to him. He nodded and turned back around just as Lockhart called out, "Hermione Granger."

"What?" The third year student asked, blushing deeply, it was well known that she fancied the professor. "You will be dueling Mr. Malfoy for the demonstration today." The girl was only too pleased with the turn of events and she jumped up on the platform quickly. Cedric leaned into her ear beforehand though and whispered warningly, "Absolutely_ no _dark magic Hermione." She nodded and walked over to her end of the large podium. Malfoy glared at her from his side of the podium and leaned into a bow, she quickly followed suit then blocked the rapid fire _Blowback Hex _he shot at her.

Hermione tilted her head and launched a stunner at him and grinned excitedly, Malfoy had learned some new moves, hadn't he? The pureblood wizard blocked her stunner and so the battle began. Lockhart and Snape kept calling out warnings that they were only supposed to be trying to disarm one another but neither one seemed willing to stop the duel. Hermione had been holding back almost the entire evening and when he simply stopped and yelled, "_Serpentsortia," _the incantation to a dark spell, she decided to end it.

"_Diffindo," _She snapped, not watching as the snake was chopped into two large pieces, and then she shot a _Disarming Jinx _so fast that Malfoy's wand was caught in her hand a moment later. She watched smugly as he was forced to bow and jumped off the stage as soon as it was announced that they were then to practice disarming with other people. Instantly she engaged in a duel with Millicent Baulstrode and was rewarded for her endeavors when she hit her square in the face with a stunner when Snape wasn't looking and was able to snatch a long hair off her head.

Then hurrying over to Snape she asked a complex question about potions so that her friends would be able to freely take the hairs of their Slytherins as well. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Cedric and Luna waving to her, they had done it. The girl turned her back on Snape midsentence and ran over to them, all three of the Hogwart's students exiting the hall quickly. "Here are the vials," Hermione said, handing each one with the appropriate label to her friends and watching as they all stuck the hairs in them.

"Will you go and take those to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom tonight Luna? I have to get to astronomy." The blond second year nodded and collected the vials, rushing to the bathroom. "Thanks for your help Cedric." Hermione said, "It means a lot to me." He grinned and told her good night, walking off to go to his Prefect patrols. Hermione ran up the staircase and stopped in an empty corridor near the library when she was sure she was alone.

Pulling out her time turner she was about to flick it when someone said, "Going somewhere, Hermione Granger?" She squeaked and shoved the turner back in her shirt and stared in shock, it was Ginny Weasley, brandishing her wand. "You know," The girl said stepping forwards, "I always thought you were different from that _nasty _Hibiscus Potter. Not in it all for the attention, a nice person." Hermione reached for her wand and pointed it at the girl and gasped when it rocketed out of her hand. The first year student had barely flicked her wand and definitely had _not _spoken an incantation. The only thought that raced through the bushy haired girl's mind in that moment was that even Hibiscus Potter couldn't do non-verbal magic.

"Then I heard you talking to your friends today, talking about what you did to my brother last term and I was not at all pleased." Ginny continued, stalking around Hermione with her wand pointed out. "Do you know what happens to liars in this school Hermione?" Ginny asked in a suddenly upbeat manner. Hermione cautiously shook her head and shifted her weight so she could throw herself towards her wand. "They pay the ultimate price, Hermione, that's what."

Hermione launched herself out of the way of what she assumed to be the _Cruciatus Curse _that she had once read about in the Restricted Section and then lunged for her wand, grasping it quickly and coming back up on her knees only for Ginny Weasley to come close and slap her in the face with one hand so furiously that Hermione's lip broke while her other hand was clasped in an inescapable grip.

"Did your brother pay the ultimate price Ginny? Because he is the biggest liar I have ever met," Hermione taunted, hoping desperately that the psychotic little sister of Ronald Weasley would slap her again so she could tackle her and get her wand arm free. Of course the bushy haired muggle born had absolutely no such luck whatsoever. The girl seethed and Hermione watched in horrified fascination as her brown eyes turned ruby red and a masculine voice came from her mouth. "_Ginny Weasley is no longer here. Now go to sleep little mudblood." _Ginny, no, _he _pointed his wand at her and then everything went black, so terribly, hopelessly black.

OOOO

It had taken an hour or so until the dragons had escaped and another hour until a horde of shaken Goblins in shining armor opened the vault and, 'Freed her.' Hibiscus didn't mind however, she had been able to sit and observe her new wand in awe. The Goblins had feared that she would leave their services permanently after the experience she had gone through but she had assured them that it was quiet fine, as she tucked Tom Riddle's cup in her cloak pocket. Then after the longest trip of her life she finally reached the surface of Gringott's banking. The damage was infinite and she didn't know what to think.

Apparently the dragons she had released had both freed a number of _other _dragons on their way out and the army of flying reptiles had caused a great deal of damage to the bank and to the alley outside. Stepping out of the bank she thought to herself, 'Serves the lot of them right, hurting those beautiful creatures like that.' Even when she noticed that nearby businesses had been trampled, set aflame or both, her train of thought did not change and she felt little guilt over the decisions she had made in that bank. Stepping down the marble steps she decided that it was well over time to get to a public fireplace and floo home, since it was late in the afternoon.

Aurors milled around and stopped the flames, searching hopelessly for the dragons which were all intelligent enough to have fled to the wild at that point. As she pushed her way through a crowd of spectators she stopped in shock. Shaking her head she tried to get rid of the buzzing that had just enveloped her entire sense of hearing. When that didn't work she tried to stumble her way out of the crowd and realized how dizzy she was. Putting her hands to her temples she groaned and shoved her way through the outskirts of the crowd and leaning against the back of the Leaky Cauldron.

Her sight went black and her taste stopped working along with her senses of touch and hearing, finally her sense of smell disappeared and she could no longer smell the damp alleyway. A voice began to ring in her head loud and firm, cold as the Arctic Ocean and as slippery as that of a snake. "_Hello, youngling, we haven't spoken to one another since you pledged yourself to me." _Lilith hissed in her mind, Hibiscus groaned and found she could not speak. "_I think it is obvious that you never intended to follow through with your promise little snake and it is time to do the ritual, for you to finally accept your succubae heritage in order to break Merlin's magic. So I can return to the world of the living once more." _

Hibiscus felt her senses tingling back into existence as Lilith spoke her last words. "_You have a month more to complete the ritual, do as I command and you will be richly rewarded grand-daughter. Anything else will be seen as treachery and I will send a servant of mine to dispose of you properly."_ Then Hibiscus felt her magic naturally snap forwards and overpower the weakening aura of Lilith until it had fled her system. Sitting up and rubbing her clothes off of the dirt that had gotten all over them she waited for her senses to return completely and sighed deeply.

This meant she only had a month to either give in Lilith's demands or potentially break the hold the deity had over her. Luckily she knew the one place that she might be able to find out how. Standing shakily she headed to the public floo so that she could go home. She had to steal her mother's books on succubae magic before she came home from work after all.

Stepping forwards into the street she looked around and walked down to the public floo in the Leaky Cauldron. Tom the barman waved hello to her and she smiled, stepping into the fireplace and shouting the address to her home before she was swooshed up into green flames. When she opened her eyes she stood in the hearth of her home and stepped out quickly. Her mother wasn't home yet, so she quickly ran straight to Lily's bedroom and pushed the door open.

"Where would I keep those books if I hadn't burned them?" Hibiscus asked herself while scanning the room. Then she peeled back the closet door and saw her mother's old school trunk lying on the bottom. Her eyes lightened up and she pulled it out, waving her wand over it and checking for wards. She found none however and she cracked open the trunk quickly, grinning ecstatically when she saw that all of the volumes were there.

Pulling out one by one she used the _Doubling Charm_ to copy each volume and then she closed the lid, putting the trunk back in the closet and fleeing the room. Just as she was opening her bedroom door she heard the fireplace flare up down stairs and she scrambled, tossing them under her bed and running to the top of the stairs just as her mother passed the bottom of the stairwell on her way to the kitchen.

"Hello sweetheart, what did you do today?" Lily asked. Hibiscus snickered, "Nothing much." Then she watched as her mother walked away, if only she knew what Hibiscus had _truly _done all day.

OOOO

Thanks for reading and reviewing, etc. A lot of big stuff happened in this chapter, if there are any loose strings please tell me! By the way, I put up a new story called The Recessive Evans; feel free to check it out if you want. Thanks so much for the reviews, favorites and follows, keep it up please!

Next Chapter: A Lesson in Sorcery and What the Slytherins Told Us.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Lesson in Sorcery and What the Slytherins Told Us.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J.K. Rowling or her publishing company.

OOOO

"Again," Demanded Pernelle Flamel with a steely glint in her olive green eyes, "I know you can do better with a wand." Hibiscus nodded and with a perplexed frown tried to cast the most challenging piece of magic she had ever attempted. "Expecto Patronum," She said in a firm voice, watching as a cloud spun from her wand and fluttered through the air for a second before evaporating. "Again," Said her instructor in clear annoyance, Hibiscus began to feel angry and did as she was asked. This time was different though, a memory rose unbidden into her head. A moment at Hogwarts when she had been sitting in the restricted section with Cedric and Hermione, poring over a book of black magic together and laughing at Cedric's antics.

It was the first time that she had felt like she _truly _had friends, "Expecto Patronum." A clap seemed to resound across the room as her magic exploded through her powerful new wand. White light erupted from the tip and she swore she felt the golden serpent wrapped around the wand writhe as the power animated it. A large ball of light floated in the middle of the library now and she watched as tried to grow into a corporeal form. All she could think was that it was huge, so tall it was up to the ceiling and so wide it was moving through bookshelves. Then it disappeared and her patronus collapsed back to the ground in a large tumble.

"Your experimentations with dark magic have left you incapable of producing a patronus," Pernelle mused quietly. Hibiscus whirled around and stared at the woman, "But only full-fledged dark witches and wizards are incapable of producing one." The woman smirked at her condescendingly, "You _are _a full fledged dark witch Hibiscus Potter. Until your aura finds a balance between black magic and light magic you will never be capable of casting a proficient _Patronus Charm_." The girl was shocked into silence, had she really fallen that far down the wrong path?

She watched as Pernelle began to leave when she asked, "What happened with the ministry?" The woman stopped and said, "They decided that they would dismiss the magic you used last week since you were trapped and desperate in that vault." The woman turned more, clasping a table with a tight grip as she stared at Hibiscus. "You have made _very _powerful enemies Hibiscus Potter, never forget that. If I hadn't put in my word Lucius Malfoy would have had your wand snapped." Then the woman spun back around and spun from the library.

The girl's lessons had been progressing much further, but once again she was stuck in a standstill as she had been for the past few months. Sighing she walked in the direction her instructor had and decided it was time to leave the Flamel residence. Her steps resounded sharply as she walked down the steps. Her eyes passed over the fireplace and she decided she felt like taking a walk. So with a flick of her wand, since she could use magic in the Flamel residence only, and a swift incantation she strode through the door which magically opened and heard them shut themselves behind her. The home was hidden behind a _Fidelius Charm _so when she stepped on the sidewalk it looked like she had come from nowhere.

As she walked the girl allowed her mind to mull over the ultimatum that Lilith had given her. The girl had absolutely no intention of completing any ritual, but she was unsure of whether or not she could defeat whatever beast would be sent after her when she didn't. She knew that the deity had sent Beelzebub after her mother when the woman was younger but somehow she had bound him away with the same magic Merlin had. She wandered close to an alleyway and felt a hand wrap around her mouth as she was yanked inside. Hibiscus was not just going to let someone drag her to her death and wiggled her wand into her pocket. Before she could cast a single spell she was shoved to the ground and looked up as Tom Riddle stepped out of a muggle man he had possessed.

The aforementioned muggle collapsed to the dirty alley road and choked on a river of blood that poured incessantly from every hole on his head. Then he collapsed and Hibiscus snarled at Tom, "Nice Tom, very nice, going as low as to kill innocent muggles on the street." The non-corporeal horcrux rolled his eyes and smiled at Hibiscus, "You grow prettier everyday little succubae." Hibiscus was unfazed by the flattery from the handsome boy and flicked her glimmering blonde braid off her shoulder. "What do you want Riddle, and don't try to pull me into some massive scheme of yours." He quirked his perfect eyebrow and said, "I just wanted to check in on my favorite pet, and make a request."

Hibiscus was clearly exasperated and waved her wand in a gesture for him to continue. Tom seemed happy with the annoyance he invoked and said, "I need you to release the soul in Hufflepuff's cup soon." Hibiscus glared at him and said, "Did you really think that you could come here and beg and that I would just do whatever you want? Face it Riddle, you have nothing to offer me." He looked desperate when she said that and she felt surprise well in her stomach, had Tom Riddle really put all of the cards in her hands?

"Hibiscus, you don't understand what will happen if you don't help me absorb that shard of soul, the other horcrux is becoming _much _stronger." He stared at her fiercely and she decided she had never seen this much devotion to something on his face. "Why would I help make a potential Dark Lord stronger?" She queried in a rather inquisitive tone, like the voice Hermione would sometimes use when she got excited about a lesson. Tom Riddle stared at her sincerely, "The Diadem contained all of the worst, most greedy and deadly traits Voldemort possessed when he made it. It is the definition of human evil, if it grows any stronger there will be a Dark Lord ten times worse than the one you defeated as an infant."

Hibiscus had to admit that he had completely won her over. In fact she was about to say as much when a thought struck her mind. Perhaps it was an incredibly awful idea but who else could she turn to? Her mother refused to discuss her heritage with her and no one else knew that she was a succubus. "You have to swear to aide me with something after I help you, Riddle, and if you even dare think of not following through I will kick your ass." They stared at each other as he slowly nodded, a wicked grin spread across her face.

OOOO

It had been a month since Hermione Granger had disappeared and it had an impact on the entire school. The Gryffindor's were grim now, worse than they had been when Colin Creevey had been petrified. The Slytherin's toted it over the head of the lions, praising the loss of the muggleborn who had dared to defy their very outspoken social rules and challenge them academically. Ravenclaw seemed to mourn the loss of one of the brightest witches ever seen in Hogwart's while the Hufflepuff was loyal to a fault and sported Gryffindor colors in support of the missing witch.

Cedric Diggory stood in a cellar in the dungeons, storing the surplus of Polyjuice potion in a large trunk. "I can't believe that Hibiscus managed to hide this room for so long," Luna pondered, "Her wards were cast impeccably but she didn't connect them close enough." Cedric nodded dully and said, "She probably cast them early in the year before she got really good at magic." He stopped and stared at the tables which were laden with exotic and rather expensive potions materials. The floor was covered with sharp runes blades and pentacles and cages lined the back of the cellar.

Luna was skimming over the tomes that lined the rickety bookshelves. Cedric peered into a box on the floor and stared at an assembly of expensive looking astronomy charts and scopes. "Do you really think there is anything in here that can help us find Hermione?" Asked Luna as she examined a book on necromantic magic, the very thing that had gotten Hibiscus expelled. "I hope," Said Cedric with dead eyes, "Because I don't know what else we can do to find out where we need to look." Then his eyes seemed to narrow on a book on the shelf, _Dark Beasts and How to Find Them. _Quickly he snatched it off and turned to Luna, "This is the best we are going to get; Potter must have never returned this to the Restricted Section."

Then he opened the door carefully in the hopes that no one passing by would find them in the incriminating room. Luna followed closely and as soon as the sturdy door was shut he raised his wand and began casting the wards. He skillfully cast an _Imperturable Charm. _Luna chimed in and cast as many charms as he did, both of them continuing until the room that they had stumbled across could be found by no one else. Then they turned and began to climb the stairs quickly, Cedric peeling through the book in his hands. "I think that maybe we can identify the beast of the chamber in her," He suggested. Luna stared at him and said, "If this the only lead we have do you really think it will help? Identifying the beast and locating it are two different things entirely."

Cedric nodded as they neared Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, "I know that Luna, but Malfoy was a cold lead and this is all we can do for now." The two fell silent though, wailing had erupted in the bathroom. The two of them rushed in and saw Myrtle screaming ferociously about people throwing books through her head. When she saw Luna she flipped out and forced herself down a toilet, they were all well aware of how much the ghost disliked the girl. "Good riddance," Mumbled Cedric as he examined the book someone had tossed into Myrtle. It was leather and on the side was scripted in gold, _T. M. Riddle. _

Cedric carefully picked the soaking wet thing from the ground and wrapped it in towels from the sink. He and Luna quickly left, skimming through the book and already scanning the blank contents.

OOOO

The beast of the chamber hissed and slithered through the chamber. It paused for a moment and hungrily licked it's fangs at the sight of the muggleborn witch on the floor. But it quickly thought better of it; the heir of Slytherin would have been quite displeased. So it left her lying there undisturbed, stuck in her stasis spell. Hermione Granger shivered in her deep sleep, why was everything so very, _terribly _cold?

OOOO

Thanks for reading, I decided to change some things with the plot line and had to come up with a new path. Please review, etc.

Next Chapter: A Tentative Deal and The Enigmatic Diary.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight: A Tentative Deal and The Enigmatic Diary.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material written by J. K. Rowling or her publishing company.

OOOO

Tom Riddle stood in the doorsill of her mother's flat with a blatantly annoyed expression on his face. "Wait you're horses," Snipped Hibiscus Potter furiously as she sliced at her palm and dripped the blood on the welcome mat quickly. "I feel as though a _Blood Ward _was a tad bit extreme," Hissed Tom venomously, glaring down at that the steaming drops of blood as they ate away the ward that had been placed against him. "Stop whining," Said Hibiscus as she stood and brushed her gold and silver earrings back along with a sleek wave of shimmering blonde.

Then she crossed her arms over her perfectly ironed oxford shirt and stepped into the living room with the older, incorporeal boy following her. Her wand stuck out from a pair of, 'provocative,' jeans which her mother had said were far too tight for a girl her age but of course she had gotten them. Hibiscus reached into a cabinet and withdrew a book quickly; slamming it onto the table and opening it to a specific page she stepped back and spoke. "My mother will not be home for two days, for some odd reason she wants to become an Auror and they sent her to the academy," The girl's voice was level, betraying no emotion. Tom smiled at her sardonically and asked casually, "That sounds like great news, little succubae, but why are you avoiding what I truly care about?"

Already short tempered at the thought of their deal and the approaching end of the month she snarled, "We will do it now." Tom smiled as she reached for a box that had lain out of sight on the couch of the living room. Her palm was sliced open once again and she spread the blood into a rune, a loud click resounded around the room as the box opened of its own volition. Inside rest the cup of Helga Hufflepuff on a throne of velvet every artifact of the same caliber deserved. Her breath always caught when she looked at it and thought of the fact that after this ritual she would be able to use another of the Founder's objects. Shaking her head she closed the blinds manually so her pesky neighbors would see nothing magical and made sure the doors were locked.

"Last time I did this I realized that even though I overpowered and released the soul," Began Hibiscus, "I never directed it to fulfill a purpose." Tom stared at her and nodded as the witch flicked a match to life and tossed it in the cup. 'Quis est animam mittere et qui habet sermonem meum expediret illud corde. Sed planto certeus vestiga relinquamus Helga servare ab iis qui male vixerunt et qui mortuus statera,s Said Hibiscus in a passionate tone. Then she slashed her palm for the third time that evening with a dull sigh of pain. Blood trickled into the cup like river and a loud hiss exploded from the thing. Then a frightening black light began to glow from within its depths like a surging mass from hell.

"You are incorporeal and as a result have no blood to give," Hibiscus said to Tom, "So hopefully my magic will be powerful enough to fight the soul alone this time." She remembered how it had taken herself, Hermione and Cedric combined to subdue the spirit. A pressure fell on her head and her arms slammed down on the table for support. The black in the cup was growing stronger by the second. Then a glimmer of silver-gold flashed in the writhing mass of soul and it began to slink down into the cup. Finally it fell into nothingness and Hibiscus grinned at Tom happily. "Now we must direct it," She said as she pulled her wand from her jeans and pointed it into the cauldron. "I Hibiscus Potter, who donated my blood so freely, proclaim this soul to belong to Tom Marvolo Riddle as long as he is a friend to me." Tom's eyes went blank and he began to dissipate into a formless cloud of mist.

The black surged from the cup and raced forwards into the cloud of light. The cloud of black and white turned grey then with the blink of an eye she saw Tom Riddle standing before her once again. He smiled at her as he rubbed his exhausted eyes wearily, "I am more solid now, I probably can't age until we find another horcrux though." Hibiscus was more focused on the cup at that moment though, picking it up carefully and sitting gracefully into a seat. Tom followed suit and seemed to enjoy the fact that he didn't fall through the chair like a ghost as he would have before. It was as though having the soul inside the cup had frozen all of the good inside of it and left it with only evil.

Before the little badger had been motionless but now the golden depiction danced and pranced around the rim while the other carvings followed suit. The little cup which had looked like dull brass a moment ago shined like the sun and was unquestionably gold. Pulling her wand out Hibiscus tapped the top of the cup and watched with shock as water rose from nowhere. "This is stupendous!" She cried as Tom glanced at it with shock across his face. "Helga Hufflepuff _defied _the laws of Charms…" He trailed off as he comprehended why she was so exuberant.

"I thought it was impossible to conjure objects through another object," Mumbled Hibiscus in wonder as she tapped the wand against it again and watched as the water disappeared, "But she has turned this cup into a focal point for magical energy and somehow given it the ability to do so." With a heavy heart she opened the box once again and shut it with a resounding click since she didn't like the way that Tom was looking at it.

He seemed to be snapped from his trance and asked, "Now that you have fulfilled you're portion of the agreement we can focus on mine." The girl was all too eager to work on a plan for how to deal with her grandmother's servant arriving in a day and said as much. "I went through a book and found that it could be anything from a demon to an army," She pulled the book on Succubae magic towards her and stared at the boy imperiously. Desperately trying to hide the flush she was getting at noticing how handsome he was now that he was more corporeal.

Tom seemed to not notice and asked, "Then what do you propose we do about it?" Hibiscus crossed her arms and said, "First we will get Ollivander to fit you with a new wand." He nodded as though he _truly _liked the thought of that. "Then we will get every thing we need to fight, because I doubt Lilith will send anything less than her best." This time he nodded more solemnly, but she swore she could see a glint in his eyes that was excited for battle. Hibiscus Potter couldn't help but hope that she hadn't created a bloodthirsty Dark Lord only a moment ago.

OOOO

The Valentine's Dwarf chased him through the halls with that blasted love letter in his hands. Cedric desperately leapt up the steps until his school bag snap and all of the contents exploded outwards. He stopped and listened as the Dwarf swung to a stop next to him, huffing for breath. Then with a vicious little glint in his eyes the Dwarf stepped up and cleared his throat, "A Miss Chan-," Cedric pulled his wand from his robes and pointed it between the Dwarf's eyes. "Speak any further and I will hex you all the way down the steps you just chased me up," The handsome boy hissed.

The Dwarf gulped and fled with his ridiculous outfit and bow, his eyes growing fearful. Cedric groaned and noticed that all of his possessions had been doused by broken ink bottles in his bag. As he shifted through it all and people hissed at the inconvenience of moving around him he noticed something odd. But maybe it went further than odd and landed passed strange as well. Peculiarly the diary he had found in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom was exempt from the ink. As he flipped through the pages and glanced over the cover there was none of the black substance splattered across the pages.

Almost like magic…

OOOO

Please review, etc. Hibiscus is going to return to Hogwarts _very _soon.

Next Chapter: Expected and Unexpected Enemies and An Excursion To The Forest.


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